Ruggere
UPDATED, July 6: Just a month after voters supported ballot questions, including one that deals with an overlarge middle school, Ottoson’s principal since 2009 is heading to a more rural district.
Timothy R. Ruggere plans to start his new job as principal of Triton Regional High School in Byfield, serving Newbury, Rowley and Salisbury, in northeastern Massachusetts, near New Hampshire. He begins July 11.
“I struggle[d] with this email because I cannot tell you how much I have appreciated being a part of the Arlington community and serving as Principal of Ottoson Middle School,” Ruggere wrote to parents and guardians in an email Tuesday, July 5. “However, an opportunity has been presented to me that I cannot pass up. … Dr. Bodie will be in touch with you regarding my replacement.”
Asked to comment, Superintendent Kathleen Bodie wrote in an email July 5: “I will be informing the school and community of my plan for his replacement in a few days.”
Asked when she learned the principal was leaving, she responded: “I was aware at the end of last week that he had been offered the position. The superintendent of the Triton district announced the appointment today.”
Read the statement from Superintendent Brian Forget here >>
Among other things, the statement notes that Ruggere was chosen from 23 applicants and then six finalists, three of whom were called back. Ruggere is Forget’s first official hire, as he began work as Triton superintendent on July 1.
Ruggere’s statemt to Arlington parents continued: “I will bring all of the wonderful experiences that I have had in Arlington and share them in my new position. Please tell your children that I enjoyed being their Principal and am proud of their many accomplishments and service to others. Also, I want to thank all of you for your support and friendships and my best wishes to you and your family.”
Finalist for 2 posts
Ruggere had previously been announced as a finalist for two principalships in the last five months, the Parker Middle School in Reading and the Rindge Avenue Upper School in Cambridge.
He leaves after Ottoson has experienced incidents involving racist text messages between students, reported in June, and reported July 6 to be false, as well as racist graffiti in school bathrooms in March. Five teachers are planning curriculum changes and a student-based art project to address the incidents.
The School Committee voted June 9 to support cultural competency as a district goal for staff training. See the goals here >>
One of Ruggere’s assistants, John Flood, also interviewed in a nearby community, for the same job, to be principal at the Parker Middle School in Reading. Ruggere taught in nearby North Reading schools for nine years.
Ruggere and Flood served at Ottoson during a period of remarkable growth, as the school’s student population pushes to make it among the largest middle schools in the state.
Robert Spiegel, head of human resources for the Arlington Public Schools, reported in March that Ruggere’s salary was $124,600. Flood’s salary is $91,039. He has been an assistant principal at Ottoson since Oct. 19, 2009. He is the seventh-grade assistant.
Some background
Ruggere began at Ottoson on July 1, 2009, after announcement of the appointment the previous March.
At the time, 43, he was described as bringing the energy of youth and the experience of four Massachusetts districts, including a deanship in Salem High that led an academy that was “like Ottoson.”
In 2009, he was Ottoson’s first permanent principal since mid-2007. He had been principal of the Dedham Middle School for three years, having moved up from assistant principal.
The Dorchester native knows middle-school classrooms from his years as a teacher at the William H. Taft Middle School. Among his students in North Reading schools was the daughter of Bob Penta, then Peirce principal.
After North Reading and before Dedham, he served three years at Salem High School, where he was an assistant principal, known there as a dean of students. He led a freshman academy whose aim was to aid the transition from middle school to high school and curtail dropouts.
Ruggere came from Dedham and was named to the full-time position in 2009 following a year with an interim principal in charge. That followed the 2007 ouster of Principal Stavroula Bouris and teacher Chuck Coughlin.
March 2, 2009: Dedham Middle School principal to take over at Ottoson in July
March 3, 2009: Vigor, middle-school savvy guide new Ottoson principal
This news story was published Tuesday, July 5, 2016, and updated July 6, to add report that texts are found to be false.
