The next superintendent of Wareham Public Schools has been announced

Amy Hartley-Matteson has been chosen by the School Committee to be Wareham’s next superintendent of schools.

The committee chose Hartley-Matteson, the current assistant superintendent of Randolph Public Schools, Thursday, Nov. 6. She was one of three candidates the committee interviewed after a months-long search process and will replace current superintendent Matt D’Andrea at the end of this school year.

Also interviewed was Warley Williams, current principal of Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School and Erik Cioffi, assistant superintendent for Plymouth Public Schools.

Hartley-Matteson, a Rochester resident, has been the assistant superintendent in Randolph since 2019 and previously served as the principal of Wood Elementary School in Fairhaven and as a third grade teacher. She earned her Doctorate of Education from Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

During her interview, Hartley-Matteson spoke with the committee on her desire to improve teaching and learning throughout the district, ensuring every kid feels like they belong in Wareham and several other challenges Wareham school’s face.

One method of enhancing teaching and learning in Randolph Hartley-Matteson said she was a part of and would bring to Wareham was creating the “focus five instructional practices” for teachers to implement.

“We decided to identify for our teachers five things we wanted to see happening in every classroom,” Hartley-Matteson told the committee. “Three of them were based on research; clear objectives, checking for success and criteria for success. If you have those three things happening, you have a strong learning space.”

The other two practices, creating a safe learning environment and promoting student engagement, came from her time observing classes and collecting data to better help teachers improve the academic success of their students.

“We’re thinking about the students that are in front of us and their needs and creating and planning lessons to engage our students,” she said.

Another way Hartley-Matteson said she wants to promote student growth is by making sure each teacher has the skills and materials necessary to do their jobs.

In Randolph, Hartley-Matteson was a part of a team that instituted a new series for teachers to attend and learn different skills that are catered to what they teach, called professional learning.

“[Teachers] attend five different professional learning days and educators choose their professional learning path but everything is aligned to our strategic plan,” she said. “We may have required professional learning so one year an educator may not choose but with a three year period, we want educators to have their choice of a professional learning series.”

Some Wareham specific issues Hartley-Matteson addressed with the committee included how to retain more students at the high school and her experience with special education.

According to committee member Joyce Bacchiocci, Wareham’s percentage of students in special education is “well above the state average” and asked Matteson to explain her experience with special education. 

Hartley-Matteson said she has worked with special education as a teacher, principal and now assistant superintendent which has allowed her to focus on specific initiatives catered to teaching special education students on-grade level materials while catering the teaching of it to fit their needs.

“I want to be sure that students receive instruction at the standard but also understand that we have to change the access points for students so that they can still meet the same grade level standard,” she said.

Committee chair Geoff Swett asked Hartley-Matteson how she would get more Wareham kids to stay in the school district instead of leaving after middle school for other high school options.

“I would increase communication and community awareness about the school district and really tell the story of Wareham Public Schools and all the amazing things the teachers and students are doing,” she said. “The second thing I’m thinking about is how we can compete academically and offer our students things that incite their passion and also offer them pathways our competitors don’t.”

According to Hartley-Matteson, Randolph has recently begun offering unique classes and pathways for students which is proving to be effective.

“There are kids entering into computer science pathways and biomedical engineering pathways and that’s showing some evidence that [Randolph] is keeping students.”

She added that ensuring every student feels like they belong in Wareham is essential and would use a strategy called relationship mapping to see which kids need additional support.

“In relationship mapping, you look at all the students in your school and very carefully monitor which students have lots of wonderful relationships with adults and which do not. Those that do not aren’t going to feel a sense of belonging,” she said.

Once the students are identified, Hartley-Matteson said work can then begin to find adults who could connect with those students.

“A couple of times a week [the adults] are going to seek the students out in the lunch room or in the hallway and ask them how their practice was or how their work was,” she said. “It’s sort of setting up a mentor program with the school.”