Sarah Collmer
By Alice Waugh
Sarah Collmer, who has a background in performing arts, is about to take on her biggest role yet: the Lincoln School’s new K-4 principal.
Collmer, 40, comes from the John F. Kennedy School in Canton, where she was hired in 2014 after serving as interim principal. Prior to that, she was Canton’s K-12 performing arts coordinator and also taught high school performing arts. She has been a music teacher for 17 years and has also worked at schools in Franklin and Wellesley.
The performing arts offer “a great perspective to think about the whole child. Math, science, English language arts and social studies are enhanced by an arts education, and creativity is a huge piece of an education that can really benefit other academic pursuits and extend and solidify learning,” said Collmer, who earned her bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and holds master’s degrees from UMass-Lowell and Endicott College.
“Lincoln is such a high-performance district and well known for its innovation and curriculum and dedication to a high-quality education, so its very appealing for teachers and administrators to have an opportunity to work in such an excellent school system. I’m honored to have been selected,” Collmer said.
During the interview process, Collmer said she was impressed by “what a dedicated faculty and parent community who care so deeply about the school and the learning and the community.”
Collmer succeeds Steven McKenna, who announced his retirement in April. Given the relatively short time frame for finding a new principal, Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall had left open the possibility of hiring someone on an interim basis, but this wasn’t necessary. “I think people really felt like she had a depth of knowledge and was a good match for the Lincoln School,” McFall said.
“Her performing arts background is a real benefit for our community. That’s something that I think made her stand out,” McFall added. During the interview process, “she demonstrated an ability to listen and not only provide information about her background but also specific examples of her work. She has just amazing communication skills and a strong ability to build community and bring people together.”