New Principal Hired For Fitzgerald School

The Waltham Public School District has hired a Watertown man to take the reigns of the James Fitzgerald Elementary  School next school year.

 Robert LaRoche will become principal of the school on July 1, he told Patch prior to the start of last night’s School Committee meeting. LaRoche is currently principal of the .

LaRoche will replace Interim Principal Dr. Charles McInnis, who took over for one year after former principal Alice Shull retired last school year.

LaRoche also said he wanted to work in school with a wider ranger of grades than his current school, which offers only kindergarten through second grade, whereas kindergarten through fifth grade.

“I liked the vision that Waltham is presenting,” LaRoche told the school committee.

To view a video of LaRoche, click on the photo box to the right.

The hiring of LaRoche comes after a prior unsuccessful attempt to find a principal. After Shull announced her retirement, the district conducted a search, but former superintendent Peter Azar, who was then still in his job, was not satisfied with the results, according to School Committee Vice Chairman Harold Walker. The vice chairman could not recall why Azar was unhappy with the field of candidates. As a result, a second search was conducted, with similar results, Walker said. It was only then that McInnis was chosen as an interim principal.