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New BMR Principal Aiming for Higher State Test Scores

Fri, Jan 21, 2000 By MEREDYTH  R. WATERMAN Staff Writer BLACKSTONE -- Monday will be the first day of school again for Mary Shimkus. Shimkus, a 30-year educator who has worked in three states, will begin her new post as Blackstone-Millville Regional High School's principal. "The best day of school is the first, and I'm going to get two firsts this year," said Shimkus yesterday as she took a break from a reception held for her to meet her new faculty and staff. Shimkus, 51, began her second year as the assistant principal of Holliston High School in September, and was selected last month from a field of 27 applicants for the job at BMR after former principal Stephen F. Chrabaszcz left. He became vice principal of Johnston High School in Rhode Island in September. Before going to Holliston last year, Shimkus, who began her career teaching gym, health and drivers' education, worked in Connecticut for seven years and Texas for 21 years. Most recently, she served as principal of the 2,500-student Ball High School in Galveston, Texas. There she faced the daunting task of guiding her huge multilingual student body through the implementation of Texas' high-stakes testing program, which she said is similar to the MCAS and was required for graduation during her last five years at the school. She said the proudest achievement in her career was raising her school's test scores in every subject test during every year after the high-stakes testing was instituted. "The best part of that was that the people who benefit from that are the kids," she said. She said she plans to use what she learned in Texas to address BMR's performance on the MCAS tests. She said the key to improvement on such tests is coordinating all aspects of the school, like curriculum and instruction, to make sure the school adheres closely to the established state education frameworks. Bringing together different parts of the school community is an effective way to run a school, she said. "I enjoy building a collaborative structure within the school where we all feel we're working together toward common goals," she said. Though she says her first task Monday morning will simply be to find her way around the school, her first long-term goal will be to meet the community to find out what it would like from the school. "I want to really find out where this school's community wants it to go," she said. Shimkus does have some ties to the community. She was raised in nearby Hopedale, where she returned when she came moved back to Massachusetts. Her grandfather was also born and raised in Millville, she said. Though she said the social-economic makeup of BMR High, a school of about 500 mostly suburban students, is quite different from her school in Texas, she says she expects there to be a lot of similarities in her experience. "Kids are kids where ever you go, and teachers are teachers. The problems are similar and so are the successes," she said.