Interim Principal Named for Lowell School After Principal Takes New Job

The Lowell School will have an interim principal next fall to replace Elizabeth Kaplan, who has taken another job in the district. 

Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald announced this week that Philip Oates will be taking over as interim principal at the Lowell School.

“He comes to this job with 10 years teaching experience and a deep commitment to the students of the Lowell community and Watertown,” Fitzgerald said. “I would like to thank the search committee for their dedication and hard work during the search process.”

Oates has worked as a seventh grade math teacher at Watertown Middle School.

He was brought in after Kaplan was named the Watertown Public School’s K-5 Math and Science Coordinator. She had been principal at Lowell for five years.

In a letter to the Lowell community, she said the move was bittersweet.

“It is with mixed emotions that I write to let you know that I have recently accepted the position of Elementary Math/Science Coordinator in the district,” Kaplan wrote. “This new position will allow me to be an instructional leader and use my experience in science education and curriculum coordination to focus on elementary math and science curriculum in Watertown.”