Flanagan is the former assistant principal for curriculum and assessment at Mooresville (N.C.) High School.
LUDLOW - The new school year begins Tuesday, and Gina Flanagan will be at the helm of Ludlow High School.
Flanagan, the former assistant principal for curriculum and assessment at Mooresville High School in Mooresville, N.C., was appointed by School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane to replace Gordon C. Smith, who was hired as superintendent of the East Longmeadow public schools.
“Flanagan is very student-centered, and her expertise is in curriculum and instruction,” Kane said.
Kane said the Mooresville school district received a grant from Apple Computers and was able to provide a laptop for every student.
Kane said she expects Flanagan to have some ideas about how to improve utilization of computers by students at Ludlow High School.
The Mooresville Graded School District has gone from being the 26th school district in the state to the eighth school district to the third school district, Kane said.
Flanagan has already been doing data analysis on Ludlow High School, Kane said.
“She has already been looking at the test scores of Ludlow High School students,” Kane said.
Kane said that although test scores need improvement at the Baird Middle School in Ludlow, she said that test scores of Ludlow High School students “are very strong.”
Flanagan graduated from Barry University in Miami, Fla., in 1991, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science. She taught Advanced Placement U.S. history and social studies classes for 15 years, then she returned to school and earned a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Kane said a search committee provided two finalists for the Ludlow High School principal position: Flanagan and Lisa Nemeth, current vice principal of Chicopee High School.
Kane said both candidates were strong.
“It’s a happy dilemma to be faced with to have two strong candidates,” Kane said.