Lauren King will become Huckleberry Hill Elementary School’s new school principal starting this July, according to a statement by Lynnfield Public Schools Interim Superintendent Tom Geary.

King will succeed Melissa Wyland, who has been principal since 2019, and is retiring by the end of this school year. She is currently in her sixth year as principal of the Capt. Samuel Brown Elementary School in Peabody and was previously assistant principal of Bancroft Elementary School in Andover.

King was also a learning specialist and an inclusion classroom teacher for eight years in Andover, and earlier in her career, she was a teacher at a small private school in Boston. According to her LinkedIn profile, King holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Elementary Education and Teaching, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership and Administration. 

The search process included 17 applicants. Four out of the 17 applicants were interviewed, with King emerging as the sole finalist. Last week, the school hosted a meet and greet to give parents, students, current faculty, and anyone else interested the opportunity to ask King questions about her background and the leadership principles she plans on bringing to Huckleberry Hill. 

The afternoon portion of the day-long meet and greet last week consisted of a few parents of both current and future  students, a grandparent, students, and even some parents of Summer Street school students, the other Lynnfield elementary school, in an informal round-table discussion. Interim Superintendent Tom Geary, School Committee Chair Kate DePrizio, and other Lynnfield Public Schools staff were also present. 

One of the parents asked why she’s considering moving from the Peabody school system to Lynnfield.

“I want to keep fresh and stay current and bring my past experiences to a new community,” King said. “Lynnfield being smaller than Peabody was attractive to me as well.”

Another parent asked King what initiatives she plans on bringing to Lynnfield from her time at Andover and Peabody. King said that she plans on having more data-driven meetings with teachers, and to use data to look at a student as whole, whether that’s with their scores, or how they interact with other students. 

“I had teachers take a HarvardX Data Wise course to teach teachers how to use and analyze data in meaningful ways,” King said. “That’s important to figure out what the next steps are for a child.”

King also said that they introduced the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) academy in her previous school, to teach kids how to cope, regulate, and celebrate themselves, and to help students understand what it means to be positive and inclusive. 

Another parent then asked what her educational philosophy was. 

“We need to keep moving forward to prepare students for what the future is going to look like, for what we don’t even know what will be, which is daunting,” King said. “Regurgitating material like memorizing doesn’t transfer and did not help me be a thinker and problem solver.”

As for her leadership style, King said that she is “definitely collaborative.” She said that she works closely with adjustment counselors so that she is always aware of what the students are feeling, as well as an assistant principal and a few leadership teams. She also has an open door policy when the door is open, but said that she is open to having a balance where she would have to say “no” to someone needing to meet with her, when another matter needs her attention. 

Towards the end, the parents gave King the opportunity to ask them questions, and King asked what the parents were looking for in a principal.

“Someone who is personable, and has excellent communication.” One parent said. 

An attendee then asked King what she thought about possible library media center budget cuts.

“In the beginning, I plan to do a lot of listening and a lot of learning and talking to people to ask ‘what works’ or ‘what needs to change’.” King said. 

At the time of the meeting, King admitted that she’s also in the running to become principal at other schools. 

“I hope you choose us.” One parent said. 

“I could not be more pleased with the final result of the search.” Geary said in the statement. 

Wyland was unable to be present during the meet and greet due to an illness, but is excited to help whoever fills the position with transitioning, according to Lynnfield Public Schools Elementary Director of Math and Science Christina Perry at the time of the meeting.