EASTON — Superintendent Lisha Cabral and Assistant Superintendent Crissy Pruitt are pleased to announce that Kelly Cavanaugh has been chosen to be the new principal of Easton’s Oliver Ames High School.
“Kelly is an accomplished professional with the capacity and energy to meet the needs of the students and staff at Oliver Ames,” Superintendent Cabral said. “She is passionate about serving Easton and initiating changes and improvements as we move into the future, while also preserving the honored traditions and history of Oliver Ames and the Easton community.”
Cavanaugh currently works as an assistant principal at Canton High School. She will take over for Principal Wes Paul, who is retiring at the conclusion of the school year. The selection was announced at the Easton School Committee meeting on Thursday, April 8.
“I am most looking forward to getting to know the community and hearing from students, faculty and families about their experience at Oliver Ames High School,” Cavanaugh said. “I am excited to celebrate the successes and learn about the challenges they face so that we can collaborate in our work towards continuous improvement.”
Cavanaugh has served as an assistant principal at Canton High School since 2019, and served as dean from 2018-2019. She previously worked at the Lexington Public Schools as dean of students and at Westwood High School as a special education teacher before being promoted to interim assistant principal.
She began her career at the League School of Greater Boston as a special education teacher in 2001. She also served in administrative roles at the school including as admissions director, assistant director of education and director of education.
“I am very passionate about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging,” Cavanaugh said. “I am eager to learn more about the work Oliver Ames is currently engaged in and to collaborate with others to advance this essential work. Another passion of mine is creating a school culture that encourages teachers and students to take risks, try new things and see their unsuccessful moments as a positive step towards growth. I hope that together we can celebrate both the times we find success and the times we don’t, but we learned from the experience and persevered.”
Cavanaugh received a bachelor’s degree in theater and arts from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also holds a Master of Education in special education and a postgraduate certificate in special education administration from Bridgewater State University.
Cavanaugh was selected following a comprehensive search process that included multiple interviews, a site visit at each candidate’s school and meet-and-greets with Oliver Ames staff, students and families.
“I’d like to express my gratitude to the other candidates and the search committee who devoted so much time and effort to this process as well as the community members who participated in the site visits,” Superintendent Cabral said. “This was an inclusive and comprehensive process that ensured we found the best fit for this critical role. I would also like to commend Assistant Superintendent Pruitt on her exemplary leadership throughout the process as the chair of the search committee.”
She added, “We will be welcoming Kelly at the same time we will be saying farewell to Principal Paul who is the longest standing principal in OA history, and this district and community are indebted to him for his many years of tremendous service.”
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