Finalists for Wellington Principal Before the Public This Week

An assistant principal/teacher from a neighboring town and an experienced administrator with an impressive resume were named finalists Friday, Oct. 19, to replace Amy Wagner as Wellington Elementary School principal, according to Belmont School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Kingston.

Lexington's Ellen Quirk and Amy Springer from Greater Atlanta will be presented to teachers, staff and the public today, Monday, and Wednesday at the school.

The schedule is:

• Monday, Oct. 22: Ellen Quirk, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Wellington's Community Room.

• Wednesday, Oct. 24: Amy Spangler, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Wellington's Community Room.

Kingston said earlier this month that hundreds of resumes were received for the position after Wagner offered her resignation in September which will take effect Dec. 1.

Ellen Quirk has for the past two years been both the assistant principal and a fifth-grade teacher at the Bowman Elementary School in Lexington. Before becoming an assistant principal, Quirk was a fourth-grade teacher at the Bowman. 

Prior to her experience in Lexington, Bowman was a fourth-grade teacher in the Acton public school system while spending a year as a fifth-grade teacher in an independent school in Andover.

Earlier this year, Quirk was one of three finalists to be the principal of the Zervas Elementary School in Newton.

Quirk has a Bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s from Lesley University.

While Quirk's profile was filled with specifics, Amy Spangler's description from the school district – while long and impressive – featured a list of titles yet little else.

The district says that Spangler "served school communities for the past twenty-five years in a number of educational roles which include: elementary principal; middle school principal; new principal mentor; teacher ... [m]ost recently she served as  a senior leader for a privately-held corporation dedicated to providing early learning experiences for children," but without the details.

But research by Belmont Patch uncovered what appears to

be Spangler's Linkedin profile. It shows that she worked for

Knowledge Universe, a global education company with many clients overseas.

At the company, Spangler's work included "development of robust teaching standards on a rubric continuum, a teacher performance evaluation system, and the development of online courses (eLearning) known as KU Academy," three areas the Belmont school department and school committee are either actively working on establishing or have expressed interest (electronic education) in committing to.

A decade ago, Spangler was the principal of Forest Hills Elementary School, a K to 6 school in Lake Oswego, Ore.

She also spent time in Toyko in the past decade.