Assistant Superintendent Greg Martineau will assume a new role as the district’s superintendent on July 1, fulfilling an aspiration he has held since childhood and hoping to make a difference in students’ lives.

“When I was in fifth grade, I knew I wanted to be a superintendent, which is an odd thing to know you want to do, but my parents were educators, and it’s just something that was my career goal,” Martineau said. “I always wanted to make sure I only ended in a place that I thought I could make a difference. I feel like this school district is a great place to land and a good fit for me.”

Martineau has had a passion for education from a young age. Throughout his career, he has worked as an elementary school teacher, instructional technology specialist, district technology director and principal, before becoming assistant superintendent in the Northborough Southborough public school district five years ago.

“[Education] is noble work,” Martineau said. “I think the greatest resources our country has are its children and its students. I love the fact that you never can be good enough in the field of education. There’s always more to learn. There’s always improvement.”

As he takes on a new position and the important responsibilities that come with it, Martineau intends to seek out others’ perspectives.

“In terms of my role for next year and some of my goals, it’s to listen,” Marinteau said. “Although I’ve been in the district for five years, I think I’m entering in a new role and I want to listen. I want to talk to students. I want to talk to families and community members. I want the opportunity to listen to all of the stakeholders and see what they value and what they think our successes and our areas of growth are.”

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In order to understand students’ viewpoints, Martineau plans to start student focus groups.

“I want to have a lot of conversations with students like, are students happy here?” Martineau said. “How do they feel about their experience? Because I think students can provide a tremendous amount of insight.”

Martineau is excited about what lies ahead for him as superintendent. He is optimistic that he will have a positive influence on students and help them reach their potential.

“[I’m looking forward to] helping making a difference in students’ lives and making sure that we’re doing everything we can so that students leave Algonquin feeling confident and successful and knowing what their next steps are,” Marinteau said.

Next year, the district will develop a new five year strategic plan, which Martineau sees as one of his most important undertakings.

“Vision 2020, which is our current strategic plan, sunsets after next year, so one of the goals that I have is reauthorizing our five year strategic plan,” Martineau said. “So meeting the stakeholders and identifying what are the priorities that we have envisioned as a district…reauthorizing the strategic plan is exciting work, but it’s a big task.”

Assistant principal Michele Tontodonato believes Martineau is well-prepared for his new role.

“I think he’s up for the challenge,” Tontodonato said. “I think his experience here, his years here as assistant superintendent, have prepared him for that just like current superintendent Johnson was assistant superintendent before this. That’s how they learn the ropes of it.”

Director of English Language Education Rhoda Webb will be taking over as interim assistant superintendent of schools.