WESTFORD — Magaly Rodriguez Ronan will be joining Westford Public Schools as the new Director of Equity, Curriculum and Instruction.
Rodriguez Ronan will officially join Westford Public Schools on July 1.
“I’m super excited to be here,” she said during an April 25 School Committee meeting. “I really think that equity is about making sure we welcome all of our families into our curriculum.”
She continued, “How do we make it [our curriculum] more equitable and inclusive. I’m looking forward to applying all of my skills and ideas to really making an impact at Westford Public Schools.”
Rodriguez Ronan has over two decades of urban and public teaching experience. She is a “proud product” of Lowell Public Schools, Superintendent of Schools Christopher Chew said during the meeting.
“She has witnessed firsthand the impact equity has on marginalized communities who struggle with lack of education, low socioeconomic status and lack of opportunity to improve those circumstances,” he said.
The role was developed in order to consolidate roles and cut costs within Westford Public Schools. Chew noted this effort aimed to restructure leadership in administration.
“We are going to reassign our Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Kerry Clery. We’ve actually restructured her role to be a more traditional assistant superintendent while also taking on the leadership of HR,” Chew told WestfordCAT.
Reassigning Clery left the Director of Curriculum and Instruction position vacant. Chew notes that the administration wanted to have an equity focus when hiring for the position.
“We [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] had talked about the idea of actually putting a very specific equity focus into the district curriculum,” he said. “If we were able to truly dedicate an equity lens, it would help us move forward with that work we’re doing in the district.”
He continued, “If you’re not creating an environment where truly everyone feels a sense of belonging, then it is a problem. Equity is the primary focus in making sure everyone not only is invited but belongs and feels like this is a part of their community.”
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