By James Lomuscio
Dr. Adam Rosen, assistant principal at Ridgefield’s East Ridge Middle School, has been appointed principal of Bedford Middle School (BMS) effective July 1, Westport Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon announced at tonight’s Board of Education meeting.
New Bedford Middle School Principal Adam Rosen addresses tonight’s Board of Education meeting at Staples High School. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Chosen during a board executive session, Rosen will replace Melissa Kay, BMS principal for the past two years, who will be leaving effective June 30. (See WestportNow March 14, 2012)
In March, Kay announced that she would be leaving to head a private American elementary school on the outskirts of Rome, Italy.
Landon described Rosen, who holds a doctorate in education from Southern Connecticut State University, as an educator with a strong science background, having worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, the Smithsonian Institution, as a science teacher at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford and having served on the state Department of Education’s science advisory panel.
Landon also called Rosen, a Fairfield resident who has been in his Ridgefield post since 2007, an accomplished “cellist, bassist, master origamist, vegetable gardener, scuba diver and gourmet cook.”
“The real test of Dr. Rosen is spending a few minutes with him,” said Donald O’Day, school board chairman. “I’m absolutely impressed. I think we’ll have Dr. Rosen around for a long time.”
O’Day’s last comment seemed tailored in response to what some have called a revolving door of principals at BMS with three principals leaving over the past five years.
Commenting on a WestportNow.com story on Kay’s upcoming departure, Representative Town Meeting member Matthew Mandell, for one, stated, “This school can’t catch a brake, nor can the kids who have lacked any continuity.”
Rosen, who was presented to the public at the meeting, seemed upbeat and enthusiastic about working in Westport, thanking Landon and the interviewing committee “for asking tough questions.”
“By virtue of the questions being asked, the people of Westport care about education,” he said. “This is an incredible community.”
