by Jen Oemig
CHELMSFORD – Katherine Richard has been hired as the new K-12 Mathematics Department Coordinator for Chelmsford Public Schools.
Richard comes to CPS from Andover Public Schools, where she served as the Mathematics Program Coordinator.
She said she was “particularly drawn to Chelmsford because of the district’s reputation for excellence and commitment to teaching all students.”
Richard explained that her path to education was a bit of an interesting one that started out by obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in civil engineering.
“I started my career as an engineer and did that for about seven years,” she said. “Around that time, I was looking for something different, so I decided to go back to school and become a math teacher.”
After receiving her master’s degree from George Washington University in secondary education in mathematics, Richard said she started out teaching middle school math in the Fairfax County school system.
“I then moved to high school and taught there for a couple years,” she said. “And then I came to Boston and taught in a charter school called Match. That was an incredibly eye-opening experience for me.”
After about three years, Richard said she started to realize that she could impact more people in a leadership role, so she took a job at the Department of Education (now the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).
“I was the math coordinator there for four years,” she said. “And that was an incredible job because I learned about policy, and I got to work with the Board of Higher Education and a whole bunch of different people. It just opened my eyes to a whole other part of education that most people don’t get to see.”
Richard eventually moved on to be the associate director of mathematics at Lesley University before joining the Andover Public School district, where she served at a mathematics program coordinator for 13 years.
Richard said her first goal is to get to know all the mathematics educators in the district, including two new math specialists, as well as familiarize herself with the district’s curriculum.
“Chelmsford implemented a new math program last year – Reveal,” she said. “So, job one, support teachers in that implementation. From what I’ve heard and seen so far, it’s gone incredibly well. I think the elementary teachers really embraced the new program, so I’m excited to support that.”
Richard began her new role with the district in early August and is looking forward to visiting the schools and classrooms now that school is back in session.
“Everyone’s been very welcoming, and I feel very much like people are excited to have me here,” she said. “And that feels really nice.”
