Daniel Black has done a little bit of everything, and now he’s doing it in Londonderry.
Black was formally introduced as the next Assistant Superintendent in the March 30 School Board meeting.
Black will take over the duties of Assistant Superintendent Scott Laliberte, who will become Superintendent July 1 on the occasion of Nathan Greenberg’s retirement.
Black, currently an assistant superintendent in Keene, was raised outside New York City. He attended Vanderbilt University and received a bachelor’s degree in English. He also received a master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Educational Leadership from Plymouth State University.
He began teaching in Donna, Texas, near the border with Mexico, as part of the Teach For America program. He worked as a principal for a charter school in New York City, and worked his way north, serving as an educational policy analyst in the Office of Administration and Finance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
“I like working with kids, and I had great teachers growing up,” he said in explaining his career choice. “I wanted to give back.”
Though his degree is in English he’s taught in a bilingual program in Texas, and also taught middle-school Science.
His wife is from Nashua and works in the Bedford-Concord area. The couple settled in Amherst, an easy commute to his Keene job.
Black said he was attracted to the Londonderry job for a combination of factors. “What separates a good school district from a great school district,” he said, “is a push for excellence, combined with the formation of a great team. I found that here.”
“We felt he was the most appropriate fit for our district,” Laliberte said of his successor.
Black will formally assume his duties July 1
In other business, Dan Lekas was elected chairman of the board and Jenn Ganem was elected vice-chair.