Schools

New Principal for Hennessey School Appointed

East Providence School Committee names permanent replacement for principal going on leave of absence.

A new principal has been named for Hennessey Elementary School in East Providence. 

Dr. Carrie McWilliams was approved by the East Providence School Committee at a special meeting Thursday evening, Aug. 1, in City Hall.  Her appointment had been approved earlier in the day by the East Providence Budget Commission, which still sits in the city to sign off on personnel issues.

McWilliams has been a “turn-around school principal” for schools in trouble for the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) in Providence for the past year, said Julie Motta, director of education in E.P.

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Before returning to the area in 2012 after several years in Mississippi, Motta told the School Committee, she was a principal and dean of students for the New London, Conn. schools, from 1996 to 2006. 

She holds a doctor of education (D.Ed.) from the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, a master of education degree from Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, and a B.A. in political science from the University of Central Florida.

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McWilliams was “the top candidate by far” from among eight applicants for the position, said Motta.  An eight-member search committee that included Hennessey teachers and school administrators unanimously agreed on McWilliams as their first choice.

She is taking the place of David Britto, who is taking a leave of absence for a year. But McWilliams will be a permanent replacement, not a one-year fill-in.

Britto will be considered for a vacant position or replacement for someone in a one-year position if he chooses to return to the district for the 2014-2015 school year, said Superintendent Kim Mercer.

The salary for McWilliams will be approximately $87,000 a year or $115,000 a year with benefits.


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