New Assistant Principal Splits Duties At Miller and Day Schools

A new school year is here and that means plenty of new faces at Westford’s schools. But one of those new faces is about to become a familiar site at not one, but two schools in town.

Christopher Sardella has begun his duties as the assistant

principal of the Miller and Day Schools this week, bringing experience from 15 years as an educator in Northborough and several months as a student teacher at the Hellenic School in Lowell.

In Northborough, he was a fourth and fifth grade teacher, serving as a curriculum leader in English Arts program and also participating in doctoral program for Leadership in Schooling at UMass Lowell, with the doctoral program set to conclude in 2016.

In addition to aspirations of becoming a school administrator, Sardella said that Westford’s reputation for education was also a draw in taking the job.

“Westford is a high achieving district, I really like the supports they have in place here for students, and talking to other faculty about how collaborative things are here,” he said. “I know that’s a place I want to be.”

In addition to dealing with a larger school district compared to Northborough, Sardella also expects challenges serving two schools to be minor, noting supports have been put in place so far to aid with the minor differences found across town.

“My initial impression of course is being overwhelmed with all the paperwork and student names and faculty at two different schools, but I think the transition will be much easier due to the support from the school’s two principals,” he said. “It’s been an incredible experience and everyone has been really helpful.”

Sardella will spend 2 ½ days each week per school, working at Day on Wednesday and Thursday, working at Miller on Tuesday and Friday and splitting Monday between the two.

Over this year, he hopes to work on goals such as

technology grants and a rehabilitation of the Miller School’s garden area, but his largest goal is to build relationships with colleagues and community members.

“A successful year is going to mean connecting to students and parents so I can make a smooth transition, and I think making those connections are so important,” he said. “It needs to be a team approach. You can’t just have top-down mandates, you need to get input from teachers and parents to ensure success for students.”