Administrative assistant Susan McGowan an asset to the school system

Editors note: The following is the fourth in a series of occasional spotlights on Canton’s town employees, conceived as a way to honor the important work of our many public servants, a number of whom rarely, if ever, get the recognition they deserve. Therefore, over the course of the next several months, the Citizen will feature various members of the police, fire and public works departments, as well as employees of the public schools, library and town hall. This week we are proud to introduce our readers to Susan McGowan, administrative assistant to the Superintendent of public schools.

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Susan McGowan, the administrative assistant to the Superintendant of public schools for the last 12 years, does much of her work behind the scenes, but as any visitor to the Central Office of the school system knows, she is in a very visible position.

“Susan is often the first point of contact for families new to Canton or
people coming to Central Office looking for assistance in navigating what can sometimes feel like a maze of names and departments related to the schools,” Superintendent of schools Dr. John D’Auria explained.

McGowan’s tasks are many—ranging from registering all new families who enroll in the school system to preparing School Committee agendas as the recording secretary for the committee to assisting the superintendant of schools, but she said meeting and greeting the many visitors who come to the Central Office is her favorite part (and one of the most important parts) of her job.

“A first impression can be a lasting impression many times,” McGowan, 62, said.  “I enjoy meeting the different people coming in, trying to help them, trying to get them registered or sending them in the right direction.”

McGowan, who was hired 12 years ago by former Superintendant Allen Brown, has worked closely with Canton’s last three superintendents—Brown, Dr. Irene Sherry Kaplan and most recently D’Auria.

“Each superintendent has been the right superintendent at the time,” McGowan said.

She is especially fond of her current boss, Dr. D’Auria, who will step down from his post at the end of June.  McGowan said that the superintendent position is an “extremely tough job” and has to be held by a “person of many talents,” capable of understanding budgets and the essence of education and capable of guiding a school system.

“I’m very sad to see him go,” said McGowan, who credits Dr. D’Auria with “raising the overall standards of the Canton Public Schools.”

Likewise, Dr. D’Auria thinks highly of his administrative assistant.

“As someone who was new to Canton and new to the superintendency, Susan has been my invaluable guide,” Dr. D’Auria wrote in an e-mail to the Citizen.  “Her knowledge and commitment to the children of Canton are invaluable assets to the work of the school district.  Her enjoyment of and delight in children is obvious every time a mom or dad enters the office accompanied by their son or daughter.

“Her love and respect for Canton, its traditions, its values, and its history is clear from every conversation I have with her on topics ranging from Town Meeting lore to the nuances of School Committee policies.”

McGowan moved to Canton in 1976 and has been a resident ever since.  And in her time here, she has seen the public school system from both sides—as a parent and as a staff member.  Her three children, Brian, Scott and Carolyn, went through the Canton Public Schools and Brian’s three sons are currently attending Canton schools.

Prior to her work with the Canton schools, McGowan had a long career in health care, first as a joint-owner of a small microbiology company in Quincy and most recently as an administrative assistant to the chief executive officer of the Westwood Pembroke Health System, a psychiatric care center.

While she admits that it took some time to adjust to a job in the public sector, McGowan said her role with Westwood Pembroke and the Canton Public Schools are “very similar.”

“We were helping patients with different issues and now I’m helping students and parents and the people I work for,” she said.

McGowan said she is most impressed with the meticulous process that goes into hiring new staff.  As a result, she feels that over the last 12 years the school system has been able to replace its retiring teachers with a “young and energetic staff.”

“Through the budget crisis they wouldn’t let the students suffer,” she said.  “They do their best just to keep business as usual so the students don’t feel the impact.  The staff, the teachers, the administrators—they may feel the impact, but they do their very best to never let the students feel the impact of what is going on.”

She also said she would be remiss if she didn’t thank the many parents who spend time volunteering in the schools with organizations like CAPT and CAPE.

As McGowan gets ready to work with her fourth superintendent this summer, she said she has no plans of retiring herself.

“I feel very strongly about the Canton Public Schools being the heart and soul of our community,” she said.  “It’s so important to keep them strong and healthy.”

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Posted by Jeffrey Pickette on Jan 28 2010. Filed under Features, News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.