Back to School: St. Mary's Welcomes a New Principal

It only took Mike McCabe a year to realize how much he missed working in education.

During the summer of 2008, McCabe, who at this point had been retired from being principal of the Thompson School in Arlington for a year, helped one of his former students set up his new office. McCabe new Sean Garballey since he was five-years-old, now he was the State Representative for Arlington and Medford, and at 25, is one of the youngest state representatives.

"I thought I was ready to retire, but I wasn't," said McCabe who has been in education for 39 years, 22 of those as principal.

From there, the longtime public educator decided to look into a position as a catholic school principal. Soon after, McCabe was appointed to the head position at St. Mary's in Winchester.

"When I retired I thought I would enjoy some of my hobbies, take pictures, work with technology, spend time with my grandchildren, walk; do things I didn't have time for," McCabe said. "But I missed the structure and purpose of good work."

But it wasn't until McCabe got a chance to meet some of the teachers and staff, as well as some of the parents at St. Mary's, that he was convinced this was a position he wanted to take.

"I was trying to decided what I wanted to and then this position was available," McCabe said. "I got a chance to meet the people here and that was a big reason why I decided to apply and accept the position. The people here are committed to keeping the school open. They have a caring attitude about the kids, and at the same time, provide a challenging academic and religious educational program."

The teachers at St. Mary's are expecting a smooth transition with McCabe as principal and are excited to start the new school year.

"We're looking forward to the new leadership," said fourth grade teacher Elizabeth Kukucka. "We're all anxious to get the year started."

As far as major changes,  McCabe doesn't believe anything will be that different, the basic schedule will be the same. His changes will be more gradual and focus on technology and communication, especially with the parents.

He plans on increasing the teacher's use and knowledge of Smartboards through professional development workshops. And McCabe also plans on using technology to upgrade student information on report cards and to make homework more readily available to parents through the school's website.

And while McCabe understands the importance of having a technologically modern classroom, he also wants to balance it with students having real-life experiences. He explained that he wants students to go out and look at real bugs, not just watch them on the computer.

But as the new school year starts, McCabe is anxious to begin, and is mindful of what it takes to help students progress.

"We're building on tradition," McCabe said. "In order to create a bright and vibrant future we need to have a we vision, not a me vision. Teachers, parents and the parish community will all have a part in continuing the success of the school."