Salem Academy Appoints 2 New Leaders

Stephanie Callahan has been appointed Head of School and Principal of the Lower School at Salem Academy Charter School commencing July 1, 2014. As Head of School, Ms. Callahan is the educational leader of the school with broad responsibility for the grades six through twelve program. As Principal of the Lower School, Ms. Callahan’s primary focus will be on grades six, seven, and eight.

Ms. Callahan is currently completing a fellowship program in school leadership at Boston College’s Lynch Leadership Academy. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Boston University, an M.A. in Education from Loyola Marymount University, and Principal Certification from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Callahan began her career as a Teach For America corps member at Wilson Elementary School-in Lynwood, California. She then became a founding faculty member of KIPP Academy Charter School in Lynn , MA where she taught history and served as administrator of the school’s Saturday School program. She became Dean of Students at Salem Academy Charter School in 2007, then became Head of the Lower School in 2010.

Following a three month search process, Sean Gass has been appointed Principal of the Upper School. Mr. Gass has full responsibility for the high school program, grades nine through twelve and reports directly to the Head of School.

Mr. Gass graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in 1995. He earned a B.A. in English at Hamilton College in 1999; an M.A. in Education with concentration in Multicultural Urban Secondary English from UCLA Berkeley in 2005; and an M.A. in Education at the Principal Leadership Institute, UCLA Berkeley in 2013. After graduation from Hamilton, Gass served for two years as program director of the Community Boating program in Boston. He moved to San Francisco and taught English for three years at Burton High School and then for seven more years at Gateway Charter High School.

In 2008 Mr. Gass was awarded a fellowship for research and travel in South Africa, and while at Gateway, he led a team of teachers and students on a service learning trip to Haiti where they built a school with the local community. Most recently, he has served as Instructional Reform Facilitator at the International Studies Academy in San Francisco, an urban school of 450 students, many of them high risk, in grades 6 through 12.

Executive Director, Sean O’Neil described Callahan and Gass as having in common being extraordinarily well trained, familiar with current educational practice, and driven to make sure that every student is successful. “I have great confidence in the future,” he said. “As we conclude our 10th Anniversary year and move into the next five year period of our new charter, we are fortunate to have a corps of high performing experienced staff and a talented leadership team that will serve our students well.”