Mr.Kelley, our new principal as of July, brought new changes, and something fresh to the table. He began to introduce new groups, and new ways for students and teachers to have direct connections that students hadn’t seen on a daily basis.

At the end of last year, it was announced that we would be getting a new principal to run Triton. To many students, this was exciting news, and they were anxious to see the new face of the halls. 

After graduating from Thayer Academy in Braintree Massachusetts, Kelley stepped forward to Fordham University to earn a bachelor, while majoring in history and minoring in English. Kelley then moved on to Boston University for a master’s in teaching and history. Then in order to receive a CAG’s, Kelley went to Bridgewater State University in educational leadership. 

“I knew I always wanted to work with people. I grew up helping to run “Learn to Skate”, as a camp counselor. I was always told to find what makes you happy and keep moving in that direction.”. Said Kelley, “Once I was teaching I became interested in school leadership and impacting change in a different way. Each step is just about finding what you love to do and continuing to work to impact change.” Kelley continues.

Kelley, who started in September, brought new changes to the school, and they have changed things for the better.

Kelley was an Assistant Principal at Holliston High School for five years, which had a similar size to Triton. Before 2014, with his tenure in Holliston, Kelley was a history teacher at both Marblehead and Sharon High Schools. 

From all the schools in Massachusetts that Mr.Kelley had to choose from, originally he started to focus on location, and size. He wanted a smaller sized school so he’d be able to know the people around him, and have a place where it wouldn’t be too overwhelming. 

“I think anytime you’re looking for a new job, especially in education, there’s certain factors that come in when you begin the search.”, said Kelley. “I initially looked at schools in a certain area, I wanted a school that was a certain size.“

He started looking online, to see what things were being posted about Triton, and what kind of information he would be able to find, and how Triton was as a whole. 

“I’m a firm believer that wherever you go there are always amazing students and really talented teachers and it’s about trying to make sure that you give people opportunity and space to take advantage of their talents, for both students and teachers.”, Kelley explained. 

When choosing a new principal, it’s a very long process of determining who the new best fit is for our school. There’s a series of 3 rounds when selecting a new principal. The first being a group of representative panels of parents, faculty, staff, and administrators where each candidate spent their time on site, interviewing separately with each section of the panel. After the interviews are completed, the four semi-finalists are moved forward to a second round of interviews with now a combined panel of faculty, parents, and administrators. 

Brian Forget, superintendent of schools here at Triton Regional, had anticipated naming two or three semi-finalists but Kelley stood out to him after the first round. 

“It was clear from the initial interviews with Mr.Kelley that he was invested with students. He spoke about students having a voice in their education, and giving students agency so that there is more excitement and engagement.”, says Forget who was a major key in the panels.

When choosing a new principal, it’s all about who is the best fit, and who brings the right characteristics to the table. “I was confident that he was a contender for the position after the first round of interviews.” says Forget. “..after the second round it was quite clear that he was the right person to lead Triton High School. 

Kelley is a big advocate for student voice. Most recently, he has introduced the new student shadow days, where a select teacher follows a student around for the day to see what their day entails. During course selection meetings, there have been many students who come to speak and voice opinions on what they would like coming up. Kelley has introduced a new student lunch, where a student can sit down with teachers at lunch and just relax, and be able to just talk about everything, and teachers look to receive feedback, and hear about their day and be able to help them if they need it. 

“It was such a fun and refreshing moment to have 15 students giving us feedback about their high school experience.” says Kelley.  

As this year is beginning to wrap up, and Kelley creates even bigger plans for the upcoming years, he is extremely grateful for how welcoming everyone has been to him, and how amazing the Triton student body has been, and will continue to be. Kelley will keep doing everything possible to make Triton High School the best it can be.