48°
GRAFTON, Mass. - Grafton High School Assistant Principal Maureen Cohen, the state's Assistant Principal of the Year, is now a finalist for the national honor.
The NASSP (National Association of Secondary School Principals) named Cohen one of three final candidates for the award for the 2012 NASSP/Virco National Assistant Principal of the Year in an announcement last Thursday. Cohen said she was informed she was eligible for the award last Monday.
The winner will be named at the association’s conference in Tampa March 10.
Cohen was named the Massachusetts Assistant Principal of the Year in December.
"The old thought of an assistant principal is that they handle discipline and that's it," Cohen said after winning the award at the state level. "But in my job, I get to run a lot of meetings, do a lot of training and professional development, work with the new teachers and mentors, develop the freshmen advisory program, things like that."
Since becoming Grafton's assistant principal in 2005, Cohen has spearheaded a number of technology initiatives. Cohen makes weekly updates to the school's website weekly, launched school pages on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter and helped implement a parent website for donations and event coordination.
Beyond leveraging technology as a communication and engagement tool, Cohen uses it to improve instruction. She maintains a blog that serves as an open platform to share strategies and ideas with other teachers and administrators. She also shares her knowledge of how to integrate technology in the classroom by leading workshops in her district and at state conferences.
Cohen is very active in the school's curriculum review and developing new programs, organizing professional development for teachers, as well as taking on the leadership role in integrating technology and 21st century learning.
The winner will be named at the association’s conference in Tampa March 10.
Cohen was named the Massachusetts Assistant Principal of the Year in December.
