HATFIELD — An educator with nearly 30 years of school leadership experience will begin his tenure as interim superintendent of Hatfield public schools Monday.
The Hatfield School Committee announced this week that Michael Wood, previously assistant superintendent for special education in Malden, will replace Martin McEvoy as superintendent. McEvoy left the position he held for a year at the end of June.
“My goals are to get to know the system, the people who work there and live there, and what their hopes and dreams are for education,” Wood said.
Wood said he applied for the position because the skills he could bring would be a good match. The Hatfield district consists of Smith Academy and Hatfield Elementary School.
“It’s a district that has a lot going for it,” he said.
Wood, in the educational field for 38 years, started as an elementary school teacher and transitioned to principal and special education director before becoming a superintendent. He lives with his family in Stow.
“I’m at heart an educator,” Wood told the School Committee during an interview last month. “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I’ve always felt that I am a teacher no matter what role I’ve had.”
Wood also explained how the COVID-19 pandemic forced an adjustment in learning models and the possibilities for engaging students and promoting mental health. One of the challenges was to figure out how to get students to understand that part of their education would be in front of a camera instead of in a classroom.
In addition to his work in Malden, Wood was superintendent of the Nashoba Regional School District in Bolton for nearly 13 years and spent time at two smaller districts in Maine.
The committee cited Wood’s dynamic educational leadership, fiscal management and student-centered approach in selecting him over the other finalist interviewed, Patricia Bell. Bell was most recently interim superintendent at Mohawk Trail Regional School at the outset of the pandemic in March 2020.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
