LINCOLN – Robert Mezzanotte is leaving his position as principal of Lincoln High School after being appointed assistant superintendent of teaching and learning for the North Kingstown School Department, and school officials are now finalizing his replacement.
“While I am very excited to start in my new position, in the town that I reside, I am feeling very sad to move on from the many wonderful people I have worked with in my time in Lincoln,” said Mezzanotte.
Appointed principal of LHS in August 2019, Mezzanotte was the unanimous selection of the School Committee to replace Kevin McNamara, the now assistant superintendent in Lincoln.
“Mr. Mezzanotte has been an outstanding and student focused educational leader and principal for Lincoln High School,” said Supt. Larry Filippelli. “He is a highly valued part of my administrative team and I will miss him and his leadership style. Rob had the unique ability to lead with passion, compassion and accountability.”
Mezzanotte’s last day in Lincoln will be April 3. The district has hired Joseph Hurley to act as interim principal at LHS for the remainder of the school year. Hurley is the recently retired principal of Barrington High School.
A new principal is expected to start at LHS on July 1.
Filippelli said the job was posted the day after Mezzanotte announced his new position, knowing that numerous other districts are looking for high school principals.
“Our interview committee met and we held interviews last Tuesday. We selected four candidates to be interviewed, but one backed out the day before the interviews, so we interviewed the remaining three,” he said. “We believe we have secured an excellent replacement to be the next educational leader of Lincoln High School.”
He said they were essentially looking for someone that will fit into their vision of continued excellence in Lincoln as well as someone who could make a 4-star high school even better by leading its “outstanding faculty, staff, students and parents.”
Filippelli said he plans on introducing the candidate to the school board on April 17, but there may be an announcement sooner because he is waiting on the candidate to inform their faculty and staff that they will be coming to Lincoln.
“As soon as they do that, I will announce it to the Lincoln community,” he said. “Right now, I must respect their privacy.”
School Committee Chairperson Joseph Goho said that from his perspective, his hope is that the district “will be able to find a new principal who will continue the tradition of academic and co-curricular excellence at Lincoln High School, be a student-focused leader, responsive to Lincoln families, and a collaborator with faculty and staff to ensure that LHS continues to flourish,” said School Committee Chairperson Joseph Goho.
In August of 2019, Mezzanotte said one of his top goals as LHS principal was to wrap up ongoing school construction, and the district has done that during his tenure.
He is credited with helping to guide LHS students and staff through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning, despite having been on the job for less than a year.
Goho said Mezzanotte “stepped into Lincoln High School during the final phases of school construction and also led the high school through a global pandemic at the same time.”
Additionally, under Mezzanotte, LHS received the title of Green Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education last year. The title was recognition of the school’s efforts to reduce environmental impacts and energy costs, improve health and wellness, and offer effective sustainability education.
Prior to his time at LHS, Mezzanotte was principal at both North Smithfield High School and South Kingstown High School.
In a letter to Lincoln families, Mezzanotte thanked Filippelli, McNamara and the entire faculty and staff at LHS for their commitment to providing the “very best education to all of their students.”
He also thanked the students of LHS, young men and women he said have “distinguished themselves as some of the most intelligent, most engaged, and most compassionate students with whom I have had the pleasure of working.”
Like Filippelli, Goho said he and many others will miss Mezzanotte.
“North Kingstown is getting a consummate professional and talented administrator … we are extremely appreciative of the outstanding job he did for us in Lincoln and he will be a great loss,” he said.
“I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity that I have had to be the principal of Lincoln High School for the past four years,” said Mezzanotte. “Lincoln High School will be a part of me forever, and I will always cherish the memories of my time here.”
(3) comments
Leaving middle of the year... interesting. I don't believe he was effective but also wasn't the main problem. Lots of turnover in LPS this year. Maybe the real problem with the Lincoln School Department is Filippelli and Goho.
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A great day for Lincoln residents! Adios!
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