By Patricia Roy

Michael A. Caira Jr., Ashland Schools Assistant Superintendent Of Curriculum, instruction and assessment, has announced that he is one of four finalists for the position of school superintendent in Lincoln.

As a press time, Caira had a day-long interview scheduled for Jan. 23, with Lincoln school administrators and town officials. A parents and community forum will be held from 6-7 p.m. on that day and will be available as a Zoom webinar.

The position Caira is applying for oversees schools from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, a “unique structure that matches my skill set,” he said in a letter to Ashland parents and school community. 

“I am eager to draw from my experiences to face new opportunities and challenges that present themselves if I am afforded the chance to serve as the superintendent of the Lincoln Public Schools,” he said.

Caira’s candidacy was put forward by a Lincoln superintendent search committee with guidance from the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston which assists municipalities in managing governance including hiring. 

Caira has been assistant superintendent since 2020. He was attracted to the Lincoln position because of its dedication to anti-racist education and its stress on the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, he said.

“I share this commitment and during my time as assistant superintendent in Ashland, we have made tremendous strides as a district in the area of anti-racist education and equity-driven practices,” he said.

This included using outside consultants to offer training for district leaders, high school and middle school staff. An equity audit was also completed. 

While serving as the principal of the David Mindess School and Henry Warren School from 2012-2020, Caira was part of an assessment of educational programming and the group discovered that the dual programming model was inequitable, he said.

“Students with disabilities, English learners, low-income students and minority students were disproportionately represents in one of our programs. We made necessary changes to our programming to ensure this was no longer the case,” he explained.

As principal of the Henry Warren Elementary School, Caira served as the chairperson of the Full-Day Kindergarten Task Force which led to tuition-free all day kindergarten beginning in the 2018-19 school year.

The two schools comprised  over 600 students and 90 staff members in a K-second and third-fifth grade school facility. While there, he served as a member of the district technology committee, safety committee and English Language Arts program.

And of course, the pandemic figured heavily into his career. 

Caira termed the challenges of helping to develop a remote learning model that addressed consistent learning for social studies and science instruction as “immense.” He cites staff collaboration and creative programming as the key to its success.

Teachers and support staff learned to adapt to the pandemic’s changing circumstances over the past few years, he said.

“One of my proudest achievements revolves around my works as a member of the Mindess School Building Committee,” he said.  “While I served as the principal of the Mindess School I was charged with authoring the educational program, which is an integral component of the project.”

He enjoyed the collaboration with teachers, parents and fellow administrators and is pleased to report the building committee’s work was praised by the Mass. School Building Authority. The new school will open in the fall of 2023.

Prior to his employment in Ashland, Caira was assistant principal of an elementary school in North Middlesex Regional school district and as a special education coordinator and a dean of students in Leominster.

He has also attained state and local educational grants.

Caira’s education credentials include a doctorate of Education, Educational Leadership from Boston College, a Master’s in Education, Elementary Education from Fitchburg State University and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in Elementary Education from Assumption College.

Caira stressed his commitment to the town throughout the interview process and beyond, if called for.

“I am fully committed to the Ashland public schools during this process and will communicate with the community as I learn more,” he wrote. “Ashland is an amazing place to work, learn and live and I am lucky to serve this community.”

The other three finalists for the superintendent’s position are Annette Doyle, principal of Peter Noyes Elementary School, Sudbury; Frank (Parry) Graham, assistant superintendent Wayland Public Schools and Jessica Rose, assistant superintendent Lincoln Public Schools.

The interview process is due to be completed in February.