Fran Rosenberg new ED of Beverly-based Northshore Education Consortium

The Northshore Education Consortium, the largest provider of educational services for students with severe special needs North of Boston, has hired Francine H. Rosenberg, M.Ed. as its new Executive Director. Ms. Rosenberg has devoted 30 years to teaching and running programs for children and young adults with significant special needs. She assumed the top executive role on July 1st.

Ms. Rosenberg’s particular expertise has been to work at the cross-section of child welfare, mental health and special education. Ms. Rosenberg served as Vice President of Program Operations at Walker, a Needham-based non-profit agency that provides special education, behavioral health, and residential treatment services to children and youth with severe emotional and behavioral health challenges. 

Danvers Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Dana welcomed Ms. Rosenberg’s appointment. “As a board member, I look forward to working with Fran as she leads the North Shore Education Consortium to the next level. Her past experience and the value that she places on collaboration and teamwork is the right match for the NEC to continue providing the most effective special education collaborative programs on the North Shore,” Dr. Dana said.

In a statement to Consortium staff, Ms. Rosenberg said, “I have always been attracted to settings that take a developmental approach, value the idea of a multidisciplinary team, and have a true commitment to strength-based practice.  I believe deeply that all people deserve to be treated with respect, and that students, parents, and professionals thrive when they feel safe and valued. I strive to build teams in which there is honest dialogue.”

Ms. Rosenberg worked as both a teacher and educational administrator during her 25-year career at Walker, as well as provided leadership for a range of residential treatment programs.  Ms. Rosenberg has served as an adjunct faculty member at Wheelock College and as a consultant to public schools, teaching teachers and mentoring young professionals.  Ms. Rosenberg has served as a board member for the Massachusetts Association of Approved Private Schools.  She has a B.S. and a M.Ed. in Special Education from Tufts University.

“I am impressed by the expertise and dedication of the Consortium’s staff as they work with some of the region’s most complicated children and adolescents,” Ms. Rosenberg said of Consortium programs, including the Recovery High School, Northshore Academy for students with social and emotional challenges, Embark/SOAR/STEP transitional services and the Kevin O’Grady School for medically fragile students and students with Pervasive Developmental Delays (PDD).

“From a pre-school classroom for children with autism, to a high school program for teenagers in recovery from substance abuse and a middle school classroom for children with multiple physical disabilities, the Consortium’s students face enormous challenges every day,” Ms. Rosenberg said.

Ms. Rosenberg lives in Burlington with her two college-aged sons.