A Brief Q&A With SHS's New Principal

We look forward to meeting and interviewing Swampscott High's new principal, Edward Rozmariek, 48, after he starts his job and gets situated.

In the meantime, in an email, we asked the Lowell High School headmaster what he looks forward to the most, in coming to Swampscott, and a little about the innovative programs he introduced at LHS. 

Here is what the new principal had to say:

In coming to Swampscott High School, I am looking forward to working with a school of motivated students with engaged, involved parents.  Statistical data shows that SHS already performs quite well on MCAS and AP tests; I look forward to working with teachers to help bring an already high level of performance even higher.  I also hope to support teachers, coaches and advisors in bringing students as many opportunities as possible:  opportunities to perform, to play sports, to engage with students from other schools, to challenge themselves and discover their own strengths and interests.  I believe that high school is a time for exactly that -- for students to explore and begin to focus their interests for the future -- and it is our task as educators to provide them those opportunities. 

Academically, during my tenure at Lowell High School, we expanded our partnership with Middlesex Community College, to offer dual enrollment classes to approximately 100 students each semester, so that those students had the chance to earn college credits while in high school.  We introduced an online learning program, which initially is designed to give students the chance to recover credits that they may have lost due to failure or attendance problems, but which we expect will be expanded in the future to allow students to enroll in courses that are not offered at Lowell High School.  We also partnered with the organization Let's Get Ready to provide free SAT preparation classes to needy students during the summer. 

A few other examples:

-- While Lowell has had an active history of overseas travel during school vacations, with regular faculty-led trips to such places as Italy, Spain, France, and Ireland, I supported one teacher's efforts to lead the first student trip to Cape Verde, Africa.  On that trip, which I joined as a chaperone, our students toured the country, visited orphanages, public schools and a university, and met the President of Cape Verde, as well as the American ambassador. 

-- Two years ago, we sent a team to the First Annual Tenacity Challenge hosted at Bedford High School.  This was a day long experience that combined academic competition with presentations on ethnic pride and history.  Last year, we entered a single team of six students and won the competition.  More important, they had such a great time that we entered three times that many students this year.

-- I have worked closely with the leaders of Lowell High School's ROTC unit, to provide students with opportunities to practice leadership, civic involvement and community service.  Through our efforts, our ROTC unit received the commendation of “Distinguished Unit with Honors,” one of the few units in Massachusetts to be so recognized, and one of only 64 units nationwide. 

-- we sent student representatives to the Regional Student Advisory Council, something that hadn't been a part of Lowell High School for many years;

-- we brought the Red Cross blood drive back to Lowell High School after an absence of about ten years;

-- I initiated class officer elections for all grades (previously, only the senior class had elected officers), to give more students a role in leadership.