New principals start at Armstrong, Fales schools

John Mendes

Westborough - Last spring the Westborough School Committee announced that John Mendes would replace Jeff Slomski at the Armstrong School and Maryann Stannard would replace Elaine Halford at the Fales School. Those transitions occurred at the start of the current school year.

    Mendes was the formerly the principal at the Fall Brook Elementary School in Leominster; he has a master’s degree in educational leadership and management from Fitchburg State College. He’s been an educator in Leominster for the past 14 years and had taught kindergarten and grades one, two and four before becoming an administrator and principal.

    Mendes said that when he was searching for a new position his goal was to find a smaller school system with a strong commitment to education. He is pleased to be at the Armstrong School and pointed to the low student-to-teacher ratio and results in MCAS testing as proof that Westborough met his criteria.

    One of his primary goals at Armstrong include ensuring “that the students are safe,” while also having fun.

    “School should be fun, which will encourage students to learn,” Mendes said. 

    Toward that end he has encouraged, and received, strong parent participation and has instituted two periods of gym class and slightly longer recesses. He is also planning family participation in the form of events like a Family Movie Night, which will be held Friday Sept. 25 at the school. 

    In addition, Mendes said he plans to be active in classrooms to support teachers in developing learning plans and added that education at Armstrong will be a team effort.

    Stannard was a second-grade teacher at Hastings School for 12 years prior to becoming principal at Fales. Prior to Hastings, she was a kindergarten teacher and administrator in Wayland. She has a bachelor’s degree in education from Worcester State College and a master’s degree in Special Education from Assumption College.

Maryann Stannard

    So far, as Fales principal, Stannard has been involved with teachers, parents and the custodial staff getting the school ready for students. She has also been working on the educational agenda. Her integration into the principal role, she said, has been aided by Diane Massa and Sue Servello, the school’s office coordinators.

    Stannard said she intends to remain very active in the classroom and will teach a lesson to each grade’s classes over the course of the year. Like Mendes, Stannard is committed to a team approach. She said that parents will also play an important role at Fales and have already made significant contributions over the course of the summer break in both in-school preparation and grounds-related projects. She expects that this contribution will continue into the school year, not only in field trips and parent-teacher meetings, but also in classroom activities.

    Her primary goal at Fales will be to create and maintain an environment where students are comfortable with the teachers and their lessons, and also with the entire staff from office to custodial. Stannard believes that feeling comfortable will make it possible for students and teachers to excel.