Welcome Back: Richards Named New Belmont High Principal
Melrose High principal coming back to old stomping grounds.
Photos
Thomas Wolfe, be damned.
Dan Richards is coming back to his educational home.
Belmont School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Kingston announced in a newsletter sent to staff that Dan Richards has accepted an invitation to be the next Belmont High School principal.
Richards was an assistant principal at Belmont High for seven years before being named Melrose High School principal last year.
He was selected last Friday as a finalist with Purnima Vadhera, interim principal of Somerville's Arthur D Healey School to succeed Dr. Michael Harvey, Belmont High School's current principal, who will become superintendent of the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District.
"Informed by the responses of (Belmont High School) staff and members of the Belmont community who met the candidates on June 12, and impressed by the quality of interviews with senior staff, I formally offered the position to Mr. Richards on Wednesday evening," wrote Kingston in the newsletter.
Kingston said the Belmont and Melrose school systems will work with Richards on a transition plan.
"Dan’s prior notable experience in Belmont, the rapid successes during his principalship in Melrose, and his commendable years in Peabody and at Newton South have prepared him well for this next, long-term stage of his career," said Kingston.
"He will guide Belmont High School at a critical time as we respond to the forthcoming findings of the NEASC accreditation review, pursue the need for major structural improvements, and explore new instructional models that will continue to make Belmont High School an example of excellence well into this century."
MHS
9:45 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Hopefully he improves his communication skills at BHS. At MHS, the staff found things out when they appeared in the newspaper. He has no problem showing his face for a newspaper article, but don't expect to see him in the halls of the school. I had more than one student ask me who he was in March when he was showing a crew around looking at work to be done in the school. His car was gone from the parking lot most days before 75% of the staff. Congratulations and good riddance Mr. Richards.
~ The Happy MHS Staff
Ally Colton-Lougee
1:48 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Having had Mr. Richards as an assistant principle for four years, I am beyond thrilled that he is returning to Belmont High to take over Dr. Harvey's position as head principle. He was always walking around our hallways and interacting with students. I truly felt that i could go to talk to Mr. Richards about anything if I needed help. I am sorry that MHS did not have that same experience.
Maybe he will also consider continuing Dr. Harvey's tradition and bring a superhero lunch box to school?
Welcome back Mr. Richards!!
Tim
3:09 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Mr. Richards may be taking over as "principal" but he has no "principles". Good luck to Belmont - Melrose is almost universally gleeful to see him go. Take a good look at the comments on Melrose Patch and on Melrose Messages (a site run by the North Shore Tab). He may have been ok as asst. principal in Belmont - only you can judge that - but he was an unmitigated disaster for Melrose where he was principal without principles. Your loss is our gain. - A happy Melrose parent.
Joe
10:47 am on Monday, June 18, 2012
I think you mean principal not principle... Guess your grammar teacher didn't have as much of an impression on you as Mr. Richards
David Powelstock
12:40 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
Er, I think Tim correctly used and spelled both principal (of a school) and principle (as in rule to live by). But I hope Tim is *not* correct about Richards!
Bill
4:57 pm on Sunday, August 5, 2012
Dan Richards is probably the most narcissistic person I have met in my over 20 years in education. As an MHS faculty member, I can tell you that MANY students in Melrose reported feeling uncomfortable around him (he did not seem to relate well or much at all to adolescents), and many more did not even know who he was. This was even late in the school year, in the spring. His communication with faculty, staff, and students was the worst I have seen from a Principal (even though he will proclaim what a great communicator he is through Twitter and his blog...sorry Dan not the same as actual communication) but person to person he simply does not know what he is doing. Mr. Richards also blatantly lied to faculty members on more than one ocassion, and pretty much manipulated any situation to get what he wanted. There were multiple examples of this in Melrose. In short, Dan Richards is concerned about one person and that is Dan Richards. How such a person somehow gets an administrative job in education is beyond me. Good luck Belmont! You will need it. Thank goodness he is out of Melrose.