Swampscott Superintedent To Retire At End Of 2024-25 School Year

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said that her 35th year in the school district will be her last with her intention to retire after 11 years as superintendent at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

Angelakis made the announcement at Thursday night's School Committee meeting, saying she did so a year in advance to give the School Committee adequate time to find her replacement and to not take away attention from the opening of the town's new K-4 elementary school in September.

"Plenty of work is ahead of us," Angelakis said, "from preparing for the new school opening to the 2024-25 school year in general. I assure you I will attack that work with the energy, effort and enthusiasm that I have brought to my job for the past 34 years."

Angelakis reflected on how she began in the district as a teacher aide at the Clark Elementary School in 1990 and was selected as superintendent in 2014 as someone "whose resume may not have been most impressive in the pile but who was intimately familiar with all aspects of this district, believing that would more than compensate for the lack of superintendent experience."

School Committee Chair Glenn Paster said the School Committee during its June 28 meeting would outline its plans to find the district's next superintendent and expressed gratitude that Angelakis will be involved in that process next year.

"Your legacy, and we will talk about this much more over the next year, is just understated accomplishments," Paster said. "You're a valued partner to not only this committee but the individual school leaders, the teachers in the district, and the families.

"You mentioned that (your selection as superintendent) in 2014 was a leap of faith. There were some of us in the community who did not view it as a leap of faith. This was the next step and you were up for it."

Angelakis said she feels comfortable stepping away when her contract expires at the end of next year because of her leadership team, which she called "a well-oiled machine."

She received a standing ovation from the School Committee and those in the audience following her announcement.

"It's bittersweet," she said. "It's emotional."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)