With the delicacy of the Malden Public Schools administration hanging in the balance, granting the responsibility of overseeing the administration to a new superintendent loomed over the school committee after the expiration of former Superintendent Dr. Ligia Noriega-Murphy’s contract. A comprehensive search assisted by the collective effort of educators, families, and community members led the school committee to meet Dr. Timothy Sippel who, after various deliberations, ultimately became Malden’s new superintendent.
Dr. Sippel’s diversely rich background in education made him uniquely qualified for the position, given the importance of diversity in the city of Malden. Whether one is considering his previous experience as a teacher and school leader in Los Angeles and Pasadena, California, or his recent position as a district administrator in Cambridge and for the Worcester Public Schools, there is no questioning how Dr. Sippel’s vast knowledge of the public school system can be an attribute to Malden’s administration.
“Throughout my career, I intentionally have sought positions as a teacher and as a principal and then as a district administrator in districts where there is a very diverse community, just because I think it is really important to be a part of a diverse community. I find diverse communities just awesome. I enjoy learning about new cultures and meeting people from different cultures,” Dr. Sippel explained.
Dr. Sippel continued by detailing how while his previous experiences were valuable to him as an educator, he does not want to incorporate previous administrative practices into Malden without the community’s input. “I have been in education for 33 years. I know a whole bunch of stuff. I was a principal. I taught elementary school. I was a high school principal, but I was not here. And so I want to hear from the people who live here and who go to school here, who work here, who have invested their lives here, and what they think before we make any big decisions,” Dr. Sippel added.
The significance of the superintendent’s role in our community cannot be understated, which is why the hiring process for Dr. Sippel was not only intricate but also heavily community-oriented.
“We wanted to make sure we had an educator from each union that was represented. So unit A is your teachers, unit B is directors, and unit C is all the paraprofessionals, as well as parents whose students represent every aspect. We wanted to have an English language learner, somebody that had a special needs child, whether it was academically or maybe medically fragile, and then a general education student, just making sure we covered all of our bases,” Jennifer Spadafora, Malden School Committee Vice-Chair and Co-Chair of the superintendent search, shared how the search committee prioritized diverse representation.
Despite the diversity of the search committee, members had one desired trait for a new superintendent in common: they wanted someone who would ensure there be open communication and collaboration between administration and families. Families feel as if they need to be informed about the administrative decisions that directly affect their children,therefore the search was focused on finding a superintendent that would embrace and facilitate these crucial exchanges.
Dr. Sippel’s morals align with these ideals, he elaborated how “it is really important to me to lead in a way that is inclusive and collaborative. I am going to make a lot of decisions because that is what I have been hired to do, but I strive to include people and get input from them in decisions that are going to impact them. I am constantly wanting to consult with principals, teachers, the teachers union, parents, and students to get their ideas on what the district can be, what the district should be, and what steps we should take to get there.”
Even with the short time he has had in the position, Dr. Sippel has already begun enforcing this collaborative initiative. “I live by a general rule: collectively we are a lot more intelligent than I am individually, collectively we are a lot stronger than we are individually. The fact that he put that as a goal, to listen and work collaboratively with not just the adults but the students, I think is exactly what we need as a district. And again it has to be genuine, and I’ve seen nothing but genuineness from him so far,” Malden High School Principal Chris Mastrangelo contributed.
Recalling his roots in education after attaining his degrees in international relations and a certificate in Latin American studies, Dr. Sippel started his career as a bilingual Spanish teacher in Los Angeles with the help of the organization Teach for America. Since then, Dr. Sippel has continued to use his fluency in Spanish to embrace inclusivity.
“I have tremendous empathy for our students here who do not speak English, not just students, but families who don’t speak English and who are far from their home. All of us, whether language is the issue or not, whether it’s a teacher trying to become a more effective teacher or a student trying to become better in a certain subject or a family that’s having a rough season, we can all grow,” Dr. Sippel emphasized.
Spadafora further supported Dr. Sippel’s focus on inclusivity, she shared how given his prior positions she “knew that it would not be overwhelming to come here, for some people they have been interviewed and might have come from districts that are smaller but Malden is unique. In the whole state, we are the most diverse high school in Massachusetts.” She continued, “I think it takes a really strong person to be able to lead a district where every single student has the ability to succeed.”
Within his first couple of months, other administrators have noted how well his approach to entering the administration is going, and how it will benefit his relationships in the future. “You have to earn trust, and that is the phase where we build those foundations because things are not always going to be great, things will get rocky, that is life, but if you can establish a sense of trust and a sense of understanding that is what gets you through those rocky times. That is what he is doing right now and I think it is wise. Some people come in and they want to change everything right away, well you turn everything upside down and people feel resentful, they get caught in their emotions, and then we do not move forward,” Mastrangelo clarified.
Looking into overall goals for Malden’s administration, Dr. Sippel highlighted how “Malden is a community like a lot of urban cities, where public education can make the difference for children in terms of whether they have opportunities after high school. It is not for us to decide for them what they should do or what they should pursue in life. But what it is for us to do is to make sure they are prepared to have as many options as they can possibly have.”
Dr. Sippel intends to always have the best interest of the students of Malden at heart and to constantly discover new ways of supporting families and educators to provide the educational and social opportunities that students deserve.
“I have vested interest, I have two teenage boys in the district so I want Malden to be the very best it can possibly be. I want us to offer a curriculum and classes that put us at the forefront of education that other schools might not be offering. I want us to be the school that they talk about in magazines and say ‘Move to Malden, this is where you want your kids to go,’ and I think he can get us on the road there so I am excited,” Spadafora enthusiastically concluded.
