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New Middle School Principal Brings Mix of Local & International Experience to Role

Summer is a time of transition for the employees of the school system. One of the biggest changes this summer is at the Middle School where a new principal, Mr. James Lin, will be joining the staff at GDRSS to replace Mr. Steven Silverman who retired at the end of last school year. We wanted to meet Mr. Lin before the start of the busy fall session and ask him a few questions by way of an introduction to the new school year. Our questions and his answers follow.

Groton Herald:

Could you tell us a bit about your professional career? First teaching assignment? Career track in different systems?

Principal Lin:

I was the Assistant Principal of Concord Middle School in Concord prior to joining the Groton-Dunstable school system. I held that position for six years. Before that, I taught eighth grade science at Jonas Clarke Middle School in Lexington for 10 years. I also taught math during my first three years at Clarke.

Groton Herald:

People would be interested in a little information about your life outside of the teaching world. Do you have a family, where are you going to live, your personal interests outside of work? Where did you grow up?

Principal Lin:

I was born in Taiwan and I spent my early elementary school years there. In fact, my parents still reside in Taiwan. My father was a civil engineer before he retired and for more than 20 years his job took him and our family to various parts of Indonesia and Vietnam. During my late elementary and middle school years, I attended an international school in Indonesia and that was where I learned English.

Being part of an international school community was such an amazing experience because I learned from and interacted with students from all over the world on a daily basis. I came to the United States to attend high school in the mid-80s.

I lived in suburban Chicago at the time so along with receiving a good high school education I also became an avid Chicago Cubs fan.

I am married and have three children. My oldest one will enter sixth grade in the fall. Both my wife and I are career-long middle school educators but despite that fact, being parents of a middle schooler is uncharted territory for us.

Groton Herald:

What is your academic background? What do you do for fun?

Principal Lin:

I was a zoology major in college because I enjoy being in the natural world. In our spare time, I like to take my kids for hikes. We also enjoy going to baseball games.

Although I am a Cubs fan, I like watching the Lowell Spinners play and Fenway Park is one of my favorite places to catch a ball game. Right after I graduated from college, I spent two summers living on the Cape. That experience made me into a fan of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Groton Herald:

You must have some one-two year high-level goals in mind for what you would like to accomplish at the middle school. Could you share those with us?

Principal Lin:

My focus for the upcoming years is to work on the three goals outlined in our School Improvement Plan. They include enhancing parent-teacher communication, improving the academic performances of the students identified as "high needs" by DESE, and to investigate, explore, and evaluate Professional Learning Communities. These are challenging goals but we have a good plan in place to meet them.

I respect the work that my predecessor, Mr. Silverman, has done at the middle school. There are a lot of great education programs that were put in place and based on the observations I made during my two visits in May and June, the students, parents, and staff members have a positive view of GDRMS and the direction it is heading.

Since I came onboard, I've gotten a sense that everyone is excited to work with me and I feel very welcomed here.

In the coming months, I plan to meet with and listen carefully to the staff as well as the important stakeholders of the middle school. I am very excited about getting to know the students, parents, and the staff. It's going to be a lot of fun!

Groton Herald

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