Fuller Middle School Principal To Retire

Fuller Middle School Principal Juan Rodriguez, who was named the 2005 Massachusetts Middle Level Principal of the Year, will retire at the end of the school year, said Framingham superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott.

Scott told Framingham Patch Tuesday night Rodriguez informed his staff Tuesday and will announce to the PTO leadership and parents today, Dec. 5.

Rodriguez will move into a central office administration position in January, said Scott. Specifically, he work on the a "Statement of Interest" for the Fuller-Farley project.

The Framingham Public Schools plan to submit a statement of interest to the state to begin the process to apply for a state grant to make repairs to the current Fuller Middle School and the former Farley School, currently being used by MassBay Community College.

Rodriguez will also work on updating evacuation plans for the school district, the superintendent told Patch.

Rodriguez was recognized as the MSSAA/NASSP Middle School Principal of the Year for Massachusetts in 2005. During his tenure, Fuller Middle School was recognized by the Rennie Center for Public Education as a top performing middle school for ELL students in 2007. Rodriquez is a second language learner. Before coming to Framingham, Rodriguez served as an elementary and middle school principal in Lawrence.

Scott told the Framingham School Committee he would like to increase the number of "principal interns at our schools" starting with Fuller.

"At the beginning of next year, (Vice Principal) James Bergeron will be the principal intern at Fuller Middle," Scott told the School Committee Tuesday night.

When asked, after the meeting, if that meant Bergerson could be the new Fuller principal, Scott said that Bergeron could apply but that a search would commence in early 2013.

Fuller Middle School is one of three middle schools in the Framingham School District. It has a very diverse population and houses the system's English Language Learners program - more than two dozens languages are spoken by students at the school. Students from McCarthy Elementary and Brophy Elementary feed into the middle school.

Fuller Middle School opened in Sept. of 1994. It was the former Framingham South High School. The school is named in honor of Dr. Solomon Fuller, a psychiatrist, and his wife, Meta Fuller, a sculptor.