by Steve Panagiotakos and Michael Gallagher
As we approach the City of Lowell’s Bicentennial, we will surely hear and read reflections on those Lowellians who have made a difference in shaping Lowell and moving it forward. When you take the measure of the last half-century, over one quarter of our city’s history, one of those Lowellians would undoubtedly be former Lowell Public School (LPS) Superintendent George N. Tsapatsaris, who devoted his entire adult life to public education in the City. Indeed, with the possible exception of the Rev. Dr. Theodore Edson, the leading proponent of the establishment of a public school system at Lowell’s founding now almost 200 years ago, no other individual arguably has done more for Lowell’s public-school students than Superintendent Tsapatsaris.
As LPS Project Director and then Superintendent in the 1980’s and 1990’s, George served during a time of immense challenge and change in Lowell and its public schools. It was George who helped craft and then execute Lowell’s landmark Controlled Choice Desegregation program, who led what became one of the most ambitious Public School Building Programs in the country, and who oversaw Lowell’s’ implementation of the Commonwealth’s groundbreaking Education Reform Act.
Recently, the LPS acquired the former Jeanne D’Arc School on University Avenue and because of George’s lifelong championing of Lowell’s public school students, we strongly support the pending Motion of Lowell School Committee Members David Conway, Connie Martin, and Jaqueline Doherty, all of whom worked with George, to name the school after him, and we are grateful to fellow Members Mayor Daniel Rourke, Fred Bahou, Eileen DelRossi, and Domink Lay for their consideration.
George was the son of Nicholas and Demetra (Zaroulis) Tsapatsaris who immigrated to America from Mani, Greece. His story is emblematic of thousands of first-generation Greek immigrant children who grew up in Lowell during the last century. Their parents came with very little but they had the wisdom to prioritize education for their children as the means to achieve a better life.
George graduated from Lowell High School, Class of 1949, and received a BA in History from Boston University and a Master of Education from UMass Lowell. He served his country nobly during the Korean War rising to the rank of First Lieutenant in the Army. His LPS career – classroom teacher, Assistant Principal at the Bartlett Junior High School, Project Director, and Superintendent – spanned over four decades; and his contributions to and imprint on the LPS system can be felt and seen to this day.
As Project Director, George worked ceaselessly to ensure that all Lowell’s public-school children had an equal educational opportunity regardless of their neighborhood. Although some of his actions were met with resistance and criticism, he was undaunted, guided by his foundational beliefs, stemming from his personal experience, that every child could reach their highest potential with the right encouragement, direction, and education and that it was our duty to provide it. In truth, fulfilling these beliefs was his life’s mission.
George saw UMass Lowell as an untapped resource vital to that mission. At that time, relations between the City and the University would ebb and flow under normal town-gown strains. Fortuitously, George found a kindred spirit in Dr. Donald Pierson, Dean of the UML College of Education. Together they developed the Demonstration School, a Pre-K to 4 facility where teachers and education researchers worked together to develop and deliver cutting-edge instruction. They also joined forces to initiate the Professional Development Program for Lowell teachers and administrators. These partnerships helped the City and the University build a trusting working relationship that would become the foundation for the fruitful collaborations we have today.
George may be most remembered, though, for his visionary and tireless leadership role in the historic $300 Million Lowell School building program. Because of the wise decision of the Lowell City Council in the late 1980’s, at the behest of then Lowell City Manager James Campbell, the City of Lowell bonded its required ten percent share in a timely way. When the economy spiraled downwards, Lowell was the only city in Massachusetts ready to take advantage of the state’s 90% commitment and initiate construction. Under George’s leadership, in just a few years’ time, Lowell built eight new schools and substantially renovated or expanded 13 others, an unprecedented and unrivaled school system modernization. Aided by state-of-the-art technology in all the new schools, George then led the charge to implement the state’s Education Reform Act, transforming the way education here was to be delivered into the 21st Century.
George was a Lowellian by birth, a Lowellian by education, a Lowellian as a husband and father, a Lowellian for his professional career, a Lowellian throughout his life, and a Lowellian at heart.
For all these reasons and more, it is only fitting that the Lowell School Committee name the Jeanne D’Arc School after the late LPS Superintendent George N. Tsapatsaris.
Steven C. Panagiotakos former Lowell School Committee Member, State Representative and State Senator
Michael W. Gallagher former Lowell School Committee member
