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NATICK – Natick Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Anna Nolin has announced the hiring of Josepha Blocker as the Principal of Natick High School.
“Josepha’s deep instructional experience and her work in addressing achievement gaps by making instructional changes to drive equitable achievement and personalize learning will further strengthen Natick High School,” Nolin said. “In addition, her experience creating small, connected house/team environments within a large high school in her current high school leadership role will also support and refresh ongoing efforts to do the same work for our high schoolers.”
The interview process for this position consisted of multiple parts, beginning with Dr. Nolin and Human Resources meeting with parents/caregivers for feedback on what they are looking for in their next principal.
The Central Office committee reviewed resumes and decided who to call in for virtual introduction interviews. Out of these virtual interviews, the Central Office committee selected candidates to meet with our Formal Committee.
This committee included Central Officers, a School Committee member, staff members, parents, and students. As a result of this process, Josepha Blocker was promoted to a finalist. Following this, we hosted our NHS Principal Forum which allowed parents/guardians, staff members, and community members a chance to provide feedback on the finalists.
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Josepha Blocker began her career in education as a math and computer science teacher at Newton North High School in 2002. She taught a wide variety of courses ranging from AP Calculus to MCAS Skills for struggling seniors. Outside the classroom, she served as a class advisor, an assistant housemaster, and also ran professional development for the math department on using technology to support math pedagogy.
In 2007, Ms. Blocker accepted a position as Dean of Students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where her work focused on student engagement, discipline, student well-being and community-building. She also taught graduate students in Secondary Math Methods of Education at Simmons College. Ms. Blocker then returned to the Newton Public Schools in 2008 as the Cutler House Dean at Newton South High School.
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For the past fifteen years, she has enjoyed engaging with a diverse range of educators, students, and families in support of student achievement and social-emotional growth. Most recently, Ms. Blocker was appointed the Acting Principal of Newton South High School during her principal’s maternity leave.
In addition to her direct work with students, Ms. Blocker’s work at Newton South focused on school safety, building student communities, facilitating data-driven decision-making, and providing teacher professional development on a myriad of topics.
Ms. Blocker holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Engineering from Tufts University, Summa Cum Laude and a Masters of Science in Educational Leadership from Simmons College. Her leadership style is welcoming, transparent and collaborative, and she is thrilled to be joining the Natick community as the next Principal of Natick High School.
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