Webster District Review Team
Dr. James McAuliffe – Team Coordinator
Dr. McAuliffe has worked in public education for thirty-six years. Prior to his nineteen years of service as
Student Services Director and Elementary School Principal in the Harvard Public Schools, he served as
Administrator of Special Education in the Wachusett Regional and Uxbridge school districts. He has extensive
experience in curriculum and staff development, grant writing, budget preparation, and facilities design and
management. In addition, he has been practicum supervisor for administrative interns, and taught graduate
level courses in educational leadership.
Dr. John Kulevich
Dr. John Kulevich spent almost 40 years in public education as a teacher and administrator. For more than 24
years (August 1978 to October 2002), he served as superintendent of the Scituate Public Schools. Prior to his
appointment in Scituate, he worked in the Wayland Public Schools for 15 years (September 1963 to June
1978), initially as an English and social studies teacher at Wayland Junior High School and then in the following
administrative positions: assistant principal and principal of Wayland Junior High School, administrative
assistant, and assistant superintendent of curriculum. Along with his teaching assignments, he served as
varsity baseball coach and assistant football coach at Wayland High School. Currently, he is an adjunct faculty
member at Boston University, Emmanuel College, and Framingham State College. He has also taught graduate
courses at Bridgewater State College and Cambridge College and was a guest lecturer at Boston College and
Northeastern University. Dr. Kulevich has participated in the following professional organizations: the
Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, the Suburban School Superintendents, the American
Association of School Administrators, the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, the
Massachusetts South Shore Superintendents’ Association (former president), the Superintendents’ Center at
Stonehill College (former member of the board of directors), Phi Delta Kappa, and the Massachusetts
Interscholastic Athletic Association (former representative of MASS on the cross country and track
committee). Dr. Kulevich received his B.S. in Education from the College of the Holy Cross, a Master's in
Education/Guidance from Framingham State College, and a Ph.D. in Administration and Supervision from
Boston College. In addition, he did advance graduate work at Harvard University.
Dr. Kulevich was a senior examiner at the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability for four years.
Furthermore, he has served as a monitor for the Lynn Public Schools from October 1, 2005 to June 30, 2007.
Helen Apostolides
Ms. Apostolides has over 34 years of experience as both a teacher and administrator in public education. Ms.
Apostolides worked for 11 years as an Elementary School Principal in Peabody, Massachusetts. She instituted
the Skills for Life program at her school, which won national recognition. Her school was the first to
collaborate with Lesley University Literacy Collaborative and then restructure the reading program to the
Collaborative’s standard. Additionally, she helped facilitate the development of full-day kindergarten
throughout the district. She was an assistant principal for 14 years and a mathematics teacher in numerous
grade levels (3, 5, 6, 7) for over 10 years. Ms. Apostolides received the Pride of Peabody award in 2003 and
was a semi-finalist in Massachusetts in NASA’s Teacher in Space Program. Ms. Apostolides earned a Master of
Education in Elementary Education from Boston State College and a Master of Teaching in History on the
secondary level from Salem State College.
Willette H. Johnson
Willette H. Yarbrough Johnson is a recently retired 36 year educational veteran. She began her career as a
teacher in Philadelphia, PA. where she taught English at Frankford High School for one year. After marrying
and relocating to Springfield, MA, she was immediately hired by the Springfield Public Schools and resumed
her teaching career at Van Sickle Jr. High School. For fifteen years, she taught junior and senior high school
English Language Arts.
The next path of her educational career thrust her into the administrative arena. Mrs. Johnson served as an
assistant principal at two high schools in Springfield, an associate principal at the former Central Academy (a
ninth grade annex for Central High School), as Principal at the High School of Commerce, and as Principal at
John F. Kennedy Middle School.
In 2004, Willette was invited to serve as a member of the Superintendent’s Senior Leadership Team as she
assumed a newly created position, School Improvement Officer, working at the district level. In this position,
she trained principals, teacher leaders, and school teams on writing and implementing School Improvement
Plans. She worked directly with principals and other district leaders on monitoring and assessing the school’s
focus on implementing the SIP. She engaged in daily learning walks to assist building administrators in looking
at student work, determining the level of teaching and learning in classrooms, and directing and assisting in
school improvement efforts. During this time, Mrs. Johnson worked closely with the DESE and a network of
comparable educators from other districts throughout Massachusetts.
Mrs. Johnson also worked as an Area Improvement Officer whose responsibility included supervising and
evaluating principals in seventeen of the district’s schools. In this position, she increased her opportunities for
working with schools and staffs in improvement efforts. Prior to her retirement, she worked briefly as a Senior
Administrator whose primary responsibility was supervising instructional leadership specialists and teacher
leaders. Willette’s earned degrees include a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, a Master’s Degree in
Secondary Administration, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership.
Dr. George Gearhart
Dr. George Gearhart has worked in education for over forty years. He has a doctorate in education from
Harvard University, and has taught mathematics in all grades from kindergarten through college in schools in
Ohio, Alaska, Ghana, Oregon, and Massachusetts. He has been a teacher and administrator in Massachusetts
since 1969, including 27 years in Marblehead as Program Administrator for Mathematics, high school
principal, and Assistant Superintendent. As Assistant Superintendent his primary responsibilities were in the
areas of budgeting, payroll, procurement, facilities, and technology.