Role Changes For Sharon's Assistant School Superintendency

When Glenn Brand became Sharon's assistant school superintendent on July 1, he didn't assume new prior job completely.

Farmer was assistant superintendent for curriculum and administration.

Brand is the assistant superintendent for administration and finance.

Don't call Brand the Sharon schools' business manager, though. That's Susan Owen's title.

Brand says he and Farmer are "still fine-tuning our division of roles."

That said, Brand said he anticipates participating in fiscal planning discussions "in order to drive our buildings forward."

"We're in a time period where fiscal dollars are so tight," Brand says.

"Accountability has never been greater, I don't think, for public agencies, and public schools are no different."

Brand spent the last five years as principal of Needham's Pollard Middle School.

Before that, he was Wareham Middle School principal from 2004 to 2006. He also was an assistant principal in the Dennis-Yarmouth regional school district.

Brand said he and Farmer nearly were in the Dennis-Yarmouth district at the same time.

"He left to go to Franklin around the time I was arriving," Brand said.

Brand came to Massachusetts from his native Canada, where he first taught for seven years ("every grade, third through eighth") before becoming a middle school assistant principal there.

His hometown in Ontario, outside of Toronto, is "very suburban, but it's very different from here. It's really a small city," Brand says.

Childhood experiences inspired him to become an educator.

"I enjoyed every stage of school along the way, and I know that I enjoyed it because of the people that were involved," Brand says.

"I really have a genuine love for kids -- as cliche' as it sounds, I think I've always had a great affinity for young kids. Those two things seemed to pair together well."

Catch up with Sharon Patch's previous 2011 Back to School stories:

• Meet new
• Discover
• Former joins Cottage administrative team.
• New will be his birthday.  
• Meet new East Assistant Principal .
• East is home for new Principal .
• The Sharon school bus routes are
• Learn about at Heights, as well as East and Cottage.
• Tour the .
• SMS further promoting .
• New is an SMS parent, too.
• See the school calendar and lunch menus here.
• Meet new Superintendent .