Medfield is the 'Right Place to Be' for Blake Middle School Principal

For Nathaniel Vaughn, Medfield has been the only place he has known as an educator and feels blessed to be entering his 14th year in the district.

He’s excited too, because he began his first year as principal of on Wednesday, the first day of classes for students.

“I feel like a lucked out,” Vaughn said of being in the Medfield School District. “I’ve always really enjoyed leadership and I’ve always felt that I enjoy working with people and I enjoy the big picture, I like to think big. I always thought maybe I would be a principal, but it was more that I kind of lucked out. I feel lucky in the sense that I’ve been able to stay in the same community. The past couple years, there were a few opportunities that came up that I thought about pursuing but I’m a homebody and I really feel this is the right place to be.”

Vaughn replaces , who became the principal, and said spending six years as Dean of Students and working in the school’s administrative office made for a smooth transition and a successful start to the school year Wednesday.

“First couple of days have been great,” Vaughn said. “A lot of the responsibilities [as principal are not new because] … [Blake administration does] a lot of shared things. A lot of the newness is more in my head. I feel more increased responsibility in my head, more so than in actual reality, which is OK, but it has been a great transition and it was a busy summer. It’s great to have the students back.”

Vaughn has spent the entirety of his 14 years in his education at Blake Middle School, both as a teacher and as Dean of Students before being in May.

“I taught seven years of sixth grade math and then I was six years as the Dean of Students [all at Blake Middle School],” Vaughn said. “My first real teaching position was here in Medfield … I just feel blessed.”

Vaughn said it is rare to find a school district with a student-centered environment outside of Medfield and that the two words that come to mind in terms of education in the town are support and community.

“It is a very involved parent body and it’s a very collegial community,” Vaughn said. “The best part about it is the students come in and they really want to learn. They come in every morning and say ‘good morning’ and when they leave they say ‘thank you.’ You can’t really ask for too much more than that. On top of that, the parent body, anytime we have ever asked for help, they’re right there, very supportive for their students’ needs. I like the open dialogue that we have with them trying to move things forward.”

In terms of moving forward, Vaughn said there are three areas of education at Blake Middle School that he has a vision for, outlining each as some of his goals as principal.

Technology:

• “We certainly were blessed with the override,” Vaughn said. “We got a lot of new hardware in the building. New interactive white boards for every classroom, which is great. There’s that functionality of technology but more so melding the practicality with the cool of the technology. They’re really cool, they’re neat and we’re very excited about them but I want to make sure it is serving a purpose. Is it really enhancing our instruction so we can really make it so students are challenged every day? We’re also making it so our instruction is better and more efficient.”
• Vaughn said the focus on technology stems from the concept that these tools are necessary to the future success of students in the classroom and beyond.
• “[Technology is students’] future,” Vaughn said. “This is their reality with technology and we want to make sure we are preparing them for that light. That being said, also keeping some watch guards on the technology. Kids know a lot more than we do and we want to make sure they are practicing technology in a safe manner.”

Community:

• “The second goal has to do around community,” Vaughn said. “In the sense of small communities, but also to the larger and national community. We are blessed to have the cluster module at the middle school. We have teachers that work together to meet the students’ needs. So we want to think about how are we treating each other as a community as a staff but also really as students, we want them to have a good understanding of community. Also, thinking about them as social, emotional beings and looking at the stress and the amount of homework we may give and make sure it is purposeful. There’s the whole ‘Race to Nowhere’ phenomena – where are we going with all of this work? I want to make sure that our work is purposeful.”

Learning Experience:

• “The third goal I have is about equitable learning experience for both students and staff,” Vaughn said. “I want to make sure we are challenging every student but also nurturing them and also the same is true with our staff. Some staff may have some hesitation about the new technology and may be a little frightful, which I absolutely understand. I want to meet them where they are at and push them forward as well. I think those are really our over-arching goals for the year.”

 Vaughn said some challenges likely to arise along the way are financial hurdles, managing students’ stress levels and meeting students’ needs.

“I think the financial challenges are going to increase,” Vaughn said. “The projections over the next couple years are getting tighter and tighter, so that is a real challenge. … I’m concerned about the stress levels of our students and anxiety that is increasing. … Making sure we are meeting the needs of our students in an appropriate manner and that we are really looking forward with our education and that we are preparing the kids for what they might need later on but at the same time meeting them where they are at right now.”

Vaughn has settled into his new role quickly and said there are several reasons behind the smooth transition.

"I felt ready," Vaughn said. "I'm lucky to have a great staff, the timing was right and I'm lucky to have the support of my wife and my kids."

It doesn't hurt to have 13 years of experience in a school you love being at every day either.

“This is great, I feel lucky,” Vaughn said. “I’m really looking forward to the year. I know challenges [will come]. I’m a little bit in the honeymoon period right now, which is great but the parent body, the student body, the staff has been very supportive. … I’ve been here for awhile and it’s such a great community, it’s a great school. The teachers are great and the kids are great so I feel like I’m in Disney Land a little bit but it’s good.”