After a lot of prayer, Sinead Boyd was convinced that God was leading her to the principal’s office at Good Shepherd School in Perryville, Md., and that is where the veteran educator has landed after 10 years at the Cecil County school.
“Last year, I was particularly restless, and I could not figure out why. When Jen (Pileggi) decided to depart from this position, I started praying, and my siblings — I’m the oldest of six — all of us together prayed for guidance on this position,” Boyd said over the summer.
Education has been in Boyd’s blood since her childhood in California, where she lived until her family moved to Maryland when she was 13. She attended Villa Julie College, which is now Stevenson University, and has a master’s in leadership and teaching from Notre Dame College in Baltimore.
She began teaching in Baltimore County and, after taking a year off after the birth of her son, moved to an elementary school closer to her home in Cecil County. After her first daughter was born, Boyd became a long-term substitute in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. When that ended, she was referred to Good Shepherd and has been there ever since.
Boyd has taught all grade levels and most subjects at Good Shepherd. She said she likes different things about children in the various grades, and as the principal, “I get to experience all of them at all of their levels.”
Guidance and support will never be far away for Boyd. She said Pileggi and Sharon Hodges, who was principal when Boyd was hired, are always just a phone call away. There is a good foundation at Good Shepherd, she said, and she has ideas to make that even stronger.
“We have a wonderful program,” she said. “I think I would love to use more data to help us make some curriculum decisions and keep that rigor up and running for our students, so then that way they can continue to be prepared to excel beyond the doors of our school.”
Boyd mentioned the community service component of the education of junior-high students. She said it has become part of the students’ culture. There is something to be said for making that a part of the experience.
“There is learning your religion, and there is living your faith,” Boyd said.
One transition Boyd has been adjusting to is becoming the principal of her two daughters. She said the girls have been practicing this summer calling her “Principal Boyd” instead of “Mom.” Her younger daughter is happy that Mom’s office will be closer to her classroom now. Boyd’s son is a freshman in high school.
When she is not busy being the principal, she likes to take walks, although with three school-aged children, the family is busy with dance, music and sports practice. She is also a voracious reader, often leading to a comment from her husband, Tim: “I’ve lost you to another book.”
