A Passionate Principal: Joanne Hadalski

After working in three different districts, I was hired by Joanne Hadalski at the Sheehan School in Westwood back in 1999. She interviewed me in late June on a very hot afternoon. I was wearing a suit and tie that was way too tight and was sweating bullets! My Initial impression was that she had a pretty strict, intimidating presence, but as the interview continued, I could tell how much she valued and respected teachers and the profession in general.
 
Luckily, she hired me, and I wore a tie every day for my first couple of years as I know she appreciated and valued “dress like a professional to be treated like a professional.”
 
Although she definitely had a few things that she was a stickler about, she was a principal that truly and deeply cared about every student, their families, every faculty member, their families, and the entire Westwood community. She gave 100% of herself to the Westwood Public Schools and her educational career lasted over 40 years before she retired.
 
For some reason, her diet of Cheez-Its and candy seemed to give her the energy and health to rarely miss a day of school, to make every school function, every wake or funeral, every wedding, bring mothers corsages every Mother’s Day, and provide mayonnaise fest lunches for us every now and then just to show us how much she cared. She developed a sense of community at the Sheehan School like I had never been part of before, and hope she’s proud of the way we’ve tried to maintain that sense of community in her honor.
 
I know she has touched many lives, not just mine, and hope she realizes the positive impact she’s made on so many of us. Rest in peace, Miss Hadalski. You will never be forgotten.