The Scituate High School community welcomes new administrators, Principal Marc Loranger and Assistant Principal Lisa Kirk. Although this is their first year in Scituate, they bring a wealth of experience. Loranger has 29 years of experience as an athletic director, teacher, and assistant principal, and Kirk has worked as an administrator and teacher for 15 years.
A South Shore native, Kirk was the first person in her family to graduate from college. She attended Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, for her undergraduate degree and UMass Boston for her master’s degree.
Loranger moved to Plymouth in the 5th grade and has been there ever since. Similar to Kirk, he was the first person in his family to attend college. Although he originally planned to become a bricklayer and join the union, Loranger said his uncle “talked him out of it.” During his first year, he commuted to UMass Boston, then transferred to Fitchburg State University, where he earned both his undergraduate and master’s degrees.
Loranger was “very interested” when seeing the Scituate job opening because his family has always loved Scituate: “My wife and kids frequently come here for dinners and go to Nona’s for ice cream,” he commented.
One of Loranger’s favorite things about Scituate High School is the late start on Wednesdays. He said, “Teachers can meet and collaborate together as a group…and give students extra hours of sleep.” Loranger explained he was “very impressed by that, and it’s unique because not a lot of communities do that.” Loranger is looking forward to “seeing all the kids participate in any extracurricular activities including sports games, practices, plays and shows.”
Kirk was drawn to Scituate because of the diversity: “Scituate is a unique community in terms of its location and having a great mix of people both ethnically and job-wise.” Kirk added, “Having a diversity leader for everyone opens a way toward positive forward-thinking, and this makes Scituate an interesting place to work.”
Kirk and Loranger have agreed to develop what’s currently known as H-Block into WINN (What I Need Now)–a program that’s currently used at middle and primary schools. Kirk said she wants to “try to make it more of a productive and individually driven block of time in every student’s day.”
One policy Kirk and Loranger are excited to enforce is attendance. Loranger thinks “most kids will appreciate it because it’s not punishment. It’s to teach students to get to work or school on time.” Loranger is confident it will help the teachers so they “don’t have to reteach content for certain students.”
Both new administrators can’t wait for the school year to start: Loranger said he “hopes to create a culture where kids want to come to school…where they want to have fun” (with rules, of course). It’s safe to say that Kirk and Loranger are excited to make their mark on Scituate High School.