Dori Pulizzi, the new associate principal at Hildreth Elementary School, says her decision to leave her fifth-grade classroom in Belmont and move into school administration was “long in the making.” Before taking the leap, she went through Belmont’s leadership training program, earned a third master’s degree, mentored other teachers, and shadowed an elementary school principal for several months, tackling many responsibilities in that role.
HES Associate Principal Dori Paluzzi. (Photo by Jen Manell)
The two factors that attracted her most to Harvard, Pulizzi said, were the school’s small size and the fact that it was specifically an elementary school. Belmont’s Chenery Middle School, where she taught for 11 years, had 1,400 students in grades 5 through 8. There were 16 sections just of fifth-graders. She said she was thrilled to be working in a smaller school.
Pulizzi said she looks forward to connecting with HES students through activities such as the leadership program for fourth- and fifth-graders, where she will oversee their volunteer activities. She also plans to get to know classes at different grade levels by asking teachers to let her do some read-aloud stories in their classrooms.
Pulizzi is a Massachusetts native who grew up in Westwood, received her bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, and earned graduate degrees from American International College, Lesley University, and Boston College. She and her husband, who teaches fifth grade, live in Bedford. They have two daughters who are in college and a son who is a senior in high school.
Before becoming a teacher, Pulizzi held a broad range of professional and volunteer positions. She served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, West Africa. She volunteered at Rosie’s Place in Boston and was on the shelter’s board of directors. She was a campus minister and service trip leader at Merrimack College and also co-warden of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bedford. While the Boston Harbor cleanup was underway, she worked as a legal assistant in the regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency. And she also took several years away from employment to raise her family.
In the course of her interview with the Press, Pulizzi—who was the only person in the HES office at the time—greeted a preschooler who wanted to see the fish tank, and she helped him count the tiny, darting fish. She also welcomed a family who needed to get some school records from last year and handled a couple of phone calls. Multitasking clearly comes naturally to her.
