JFK School in Canton Has a New Principal

The JFK School has a new principal. Superintendent of Schools announced today that Kimberly Sefrino will be the new leader of the starting July 1.

“We are very excited,” Granatino said in an interview today. “She was very well respected in Fall River.”

Kimberly Sefrino has worked as a teacher and principal in Fall River for the past 25 years. This is her fifteenth year as a building principal in the district.

Sefrino received her master’s degree in education from Providence College and replaces , who has been serving at interim principal at the JFK. The previous JFK principal, , had been promoted to director of curriculum and instruction for the Canton School district, according to Granatino.

“Ms. Sefrino is excited about the opportunity to bring her wealth of experience to Canton and to work with the talented educators at the JFK,” the superintendent said in a statement.

The principal search committee included Robie Peters, principal at the ; JFK staffers Jan Chamberlain, Meredith Carey and Becky Smart; parents Kristin Mirliani and Bridget Wad; and Reuki Schutt, School Committee chair. The committee had 47 candidates for the position, interviewed eight and narrowed it down to two. “We had some really strong people,” Granatino said in the interview.  “The committee did a great job screening them.”

The district started the search in January for a new principal and Sefrino will start her new position July 1, pending successful contract negotiations, he noted.

The new principal “took students from 14 different schools and melded them into one community,” the superintendent said of her past achievements. “She is very impressive, very personable and very into data…to get to the core of the issues on student achievement.”

“She impressed the committee, parents and the staff that she met with last week,” Granatino said. “She is a really strong asset to the team.”

The superintendent said the recently hired Sefrino and, the new Galvin principal hired last month, will make “our administrative team so much stronger.”