WHS Principal Hired

Andrew Keough, who has been the principal at Medfield High School since 2003, has been hired as Wellesley High School’s new principal.

“In this instance, he was clearly the right person,” said Superintendent Matt King, who said he made an official offer to Keough on Tuesday night, which Keough accepted.

King had brought Keough into the school on Tuesday to interview with teachers and parents. According to King, the reaction he got “was uniformly extremely positive.” On Wednesday, King told the faculty of Wellesley High that Keough had been hired as their new principal.

Before Keough became principal at Medfield High, he was an assistant principal at Hopkinton High School from 1999 to 2003. He has a doctorate of education from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College; a master’s degree in public school administration and in education in moderate special needs from Framingham State College; and a bachelor’s degree in history from Roger Williams College in Providence.

Keough had previously been a finalist for principal jobs in Franklin and Weston, according to reports in the Weston Town Crier and the Country Gazette.

He said that Keough was chosen from a pool of 19 applicants. King said that he acted quickly to make Keough an offer because he was already a finalist for a job in another town.

In a phone interview, King praised Keough’s “commitment to students” and “his vision of what a high-performing high school looks like.”

“People describe him as friendly, firm and flexible,” King said.

Keough will take over from Principal Rena Mirkin, who announced her retirement from Wellesley High last September, after heading the school for the past 11 years. Mirkin will officially retire as principal in July of this year

Keough could not be reached for comment at the time this article went to press.