Three area principals selected as finalists for top job at Lincoln-Sudbury High

Dan O'Brien, MetroWest Daily News
·3 min read

SUDBURY — Three high school principals from nearby communities have been selected as finalists to become the next superintendent/principal of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District.

The School Committee took a vote Thursday night after receiving a report and recommendations from the district's 11-member Initial Screening and Interview Committee.

In alphabetical order, finalists include Jamie Chisum, principal of Wellesley High School; Allyson Mizoguchi, principal of Wayland High School; and Andrew Stephens, principal of Lexington High School.

They are each seeking to replace L-S Superintendent-Principal Bella Wong, who announced in October that she would not seek a new contract when her current pact expires in June.

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Wong has led L-S for a decade. She was previously a science teacher in the district.

“We were fortunate to have a great pool of applicants and a very hard working search committee,” said School Committee member Kevin Matthews, who chaired the screening panel, in a prepared statement. “Each is an experienced building leader and school administrator.”

The School Committee said finalists will each spend a day at the high school, meeting with faculty, students, families and community members. Candidates will follow up with formal public interviews with the School Committee.

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“This process owes a lot to our hardworking faculty and community members who spent several evenings and many hours reviewing application packages,” School Committee Chair Heather Cowap said in a statement.

The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District comprises Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School; each of the two communities has its own school district for elementary grades.

The search committee released the following biographies for each finalist:

  • Chisum is in his ninth year as Wellesley High principal. After an initial teaching assignment in Pittsfield, he taught English at Wellesley for seven years before moving into an interim middle school principalship and assistant principal before leading the high school. He holds a a doctorate in educational leadership from Boston College; a master's degree in secondary English education from UMass-Amherst; and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English literature from Brandeis University. Chisum is licensed as a superintendent/assistant superintendent by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

  • Mizoguchi is in her ninth year as Wayland High principal; she was previously assistant principal for 11 years (2003-14). She began her career as an English teacher in Brookline and Wayland. Mizoguchi holds a doctorate in education from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College; a master's degree in education from Harvard University; and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University. Mizoguchi led an online course at BC on “Family and Community Engagement” in its Education Leadership and Policy program. She is licensed for superintendency and principalship from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

  • Stephens has been Lexington High's principal since 2017. He previously spent 10 years as principal at Duxbury High School and four years leading Hull High School. He began his career as a history teacher in Vermont before returning to Massachusetts where he taught for three years at Newton North High School and spent another three as an assistant housemaster. Stephens holds a doctorate in education from Northeastern University; a master's degree in education from Johnson State College in Vermont; and a bachelor's degree in history from Colgate University. He also holds a certificate of advanced educational studies from Boston College, and is licensed as a superintendent and principal by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Three area principals named finalists for Lincoln-Sudbury job