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During National Principals Month, a school administrator might expect some pats on the back, or maybe a special cake.
But the celebration on Oct. 20 for Andrew Rebello, principal of Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School in Fall River, was much grander and far more unexpected.
Rebello had carefully orchestrated a school assembly for a visit by Jeffrey C. Riley, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education commissioner, purportedly to laud students for their outstanding MCAS results.
Instead, a shocked Rebello found himself in the spotlight, being presented a Milken Educator Award, known as “the Oscars of teaching.”
In conferring the national honor, Dr. Jane Foley, Milken Educator Awards senior vice president, said, “Today we celebrate Andrew Rebello and his positive impact on preparing Diman students for success in a complex, competitive global economy. His dedication to students, staff, and community is evidenced by his dynamic leadership, steadfast determination and collaborative approach to teaching and learning.”
During the COVID years, Rebello led the Diman faculty in supporting students with academic and vocational acceleration programs, including targeted math intervention, high-dosage tutoring, a study hall for students needing additional support, and extra help after school and on Saturdays. To combat the negative impacts on students’ mental health, the school partners with Cartwheel, a telehealth counseling service, as well as the local Balanced Learning Center, and hired a transition counselor to help freshmen.
These innovations have helped Diman students to better weather the turmoil created by COVID, and were a factor in the selection of Rebello for the Milken award.
With a student body of 1,450 drawn from Fall River, Somerset, Swansea, and Westport, Diman earned a spot on U.S. News and World Report’s 2023-’24 list of best high schools in the nation, as well as notching the highest graduation rate in school history, a remarkable 98%. On Nov. 3, ground was broken for a state-of-the-art school building budgeted at nearly $300 million, expected to open for the 2026 academic year.
Rebello, who grew up in Acushnet and graduated from New Bedford High School, began his career at Diman in 2012 as a school counselor, followed by stints at B.M.C. Durfee High School and Boston Public Schools, where he was assistant director of career and technical education.
He returned to Diman in 2018 as assistant principal of student affairs, and was hired as principal and assistant superintendent on March 3, 2020, just days before the COVID lockdown upended education nationwide, a real trial by fire.
Rebello, who lives in Barrington, Rhode Island, also serves on Gov. Maura Healey’s Economic Development Planning Council and on the educational policy and legislative committee for the Massachusetts School Administrators’ Association.
He credits his parents, David and Filomena Rebello of Fairhaven, who both emigrated from Portugal, for placing the highest priority on education for himself and his sister.
He earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Merrimack College in 2010, a master’s in education in 2012 from Frostburg State University in Maryland, a certificate of advanced graduate studies from UMass Boston in 2016, and a certificate of school management and leadership from Harvard University in 2021.
A three-sport scholar-athlete at New Bedford High School, he also coached NCAA Division 3 football at Frostburg and was an assistant coach at NBHS. On Nov. 21, he was inducted into the high school’s Gridiron Hall of Fame, recognizing his years as an outstanding quarterback.
“New Bedford High was a very formative time in my life. I think it made me who I am today. The New Bedford attitude has stayed with me … throughout these years, and it’s really about the perseverance, the grit — the same qualities that my father and mother instilled in me — that have stayed with me, reinforced through sports and football …”
In 36 years of giving Milken Educator Awards, the Milken Family Foundation has distributed $75 million in individual prizes and invested more than $144 million in the national network overall. Rebello will join dozens of other recipients at an awards forum in Los Angeles in June and have the opportunity to further develop his professional skills through mentorships and collaborations.
According to the Milken Family Foundation, recipients are selected through a confidential process in early to mid-career for what they have achieved and for the promise of what they will accomplish to strengthen the K-12 profession during their career. Among other qualities, ideal honorees offer strong, long-range potential for professional and policy leadership and have an engaging and inspiring presence that motivates and impacts students, colleagues, and the community.
Rebello certainly appears to tick those boxes.
New Bedford Light: What does it mean to you to receive this honor, the Milken Educator Award?
Andrew Rebello: It’s undoubtedly the achievement of, and an honor of, my lifetime. It’s humbling, it really is. Because when they were talking about the award at the presentation, my mind was going through all the incredible educators we have here at Diman. And that award is without a doubt a consequence of the teachers’ and the students’ hard work.
Bill Belichick, back when the Patriots were actually winning, he used to attribute it to the players. He said, “It’s all about the players. They’re the ones that have to show up every day, buy into the program, and execute.”
And that’s really our teachers. It’s all about our teachers who really rose to the standard of excellence that has produced incredible results here for our students.
But also what it means to me is vindication: vindication for doing the right thing at the right time surrounded by the right people. It’s a vindication for fighting through the status quo. I think a lot of times in education, the gravitational pull of the status quo can be quite strong. But having determination to continue the standard of excellence that has been produced here for so long, and accelerating that, it’s really vindication for that, and it’s a vindication for vocational education.
I think that we’ve seen such a transition and transformation in the students that are in front of us, and engaging them is incredibly important through choice options. Students come here and they have the choice. They have the hands-on skills, they have the critical thinking opportunities, and our mission has been to get kids life-ready beyond any math, English, or skill they’ll learn. Are they prepared for life when they graduate from Diman? Are they able to have a conversation? Are they able to critically think and problem-solve before anything else? And that’s really been our mission. So it’s a vindication for those things that we’ve put at the forefront during my time here.
NBL: At the awards ceremony, you credited your parents for putting education at the forefront. Tell me about them.
AR: My father immigrated here to New Bedford, Rivet Street, South End, when he was 10 years old. Didn’t speak a word of English. And he has taught me so much in life, about perseverance, grit, all the qualities that have made me who I am today come from him.
He didn’t speak a word of English, but progressed to the point where he opened his own business. He opened Mister Donut on Acushnet Avenue. Yeah, so he was the owner of that for a long time. He never graduated from high school, but did what it took to make sure he provided for our family and always kept education at the forefront for my sister and made that a top priority for us.
So he immigrated here when he was 10 years old, and my mother immigrated around the same age to Fall River. …
My dad literally learned English by watching the Patriots on TV every Sunday. Football has always been a huge staple in our family. So I did go to New Bedford High School, where I played football, basketball and track. I graduated from New Bedford High School and went on to Merrimack College to play football … (Rebello contributed to the team winning two NCAA Division 2 Football Conference championships.)
NBL: Which K-12 teacher most inspired you, and why?
AR: When I reflect on my journey, there’s so many people along the way who had my best interest in mind, supported me. I would say the two most prominent individuals would be Coach Dennis Golden and Michael Correia, both New Bedford educators, one being my football coach and guidance counselor, and one being the athletic director.
Because my world was so focused and tied to sports at the time, those two had such an impact on my life as far as the guidance, the assistance, and recommendations and things like that to make sure that I was set up to be successful. As far as educators go, that just speaks to how much beyond the classroom relationships matter in this game, and in this industry. … When I look at the nature of education and students in general, and families, providing that opportunity and support for all kids is how we get to transform communities. So, those two individuals in particular were incredible influences on my life.
NBL: So is that why you chose guidance counseling as your educational specialty versus classroom teaching?
AR: Yeah, I did look at it at the time as an avenue to continue to coach football and be in an educational setting to influence and guide the next generation — how could I do both, because those were my big passions at the time.
I went to Merrimack College. My undergrad degree was in psychology. I’ve always had a fascination with how people learn, how people act, why are certain people certain ways? That’s why I got into psychology, and then guidance counseling from there, to really help students and help people. I remember going to college thinking “OK, what am I going to go into here? Am I going to maybe earn a law degree? Do I want to go into, maybe, a post-college doctorate for psychology? Or do I want to get back into schools? I love football — do I continue to coach?” And that’s the avenue I went with, and thank God I did.
NBL: Statistics show that far more women than men are in the educational field, something like three to one. Why do you think that is, and what would you say to a young man to persuade him to choose a career in education?
AR: That’s a great question. Right now, especially, with many people leaving the profession, I think we really need to look at how, one, we retain our current workforce, train them up, but also how we are recruiting for our profession. We need to start earlier, in the middle schools, in the high schools, giving students a picture of what it could be to be in education. So, that’s for all students. Programs within our high schools to start recruiting them earlier, and then through college, partnering with universities so that students really see a pipeline and a pathway to an incredible profession that can change lives and transform the next generation.
NBL: The $25,000 cash award that comes with your Milken honor is unrestricted, a nice surprise to come out of the blue. Have you been thinking at all about how you’re going to use that money?
AR: It’s an incredible, generous gift. At the time (of the presentation) — it was a whirlwind blur of a day — one of the reporters asked “What are you going to spend the money on?” and I said “I have no idea. What I’m thinking about right now is the gratitude I have for the people around me, my family.” … (After) thinking about it, I think we need to recognize the students and the teachers. Setting up a scholarship for students is something I have in mind, and doing something nice for teachers … because they need to be recognized for their hard work. And the remainder for my daughter. I have a 3-year-old at home. And just like education was instilled in me — not pushing any college or career on her — but understanding that education is important, no matter what you do in life, putting education at the forefront and keeping that money aside for her to pursue education in the future.
NBL: The public view of vocational education certainly has changed through the years.
AR: Yeah, I can say when I was considering high school, vocational education really wasn’t on the radar for me, right? I didn’t know many friends that went for vocational education.
But just as the world has turned, the world of work has shifted, and in that time, so has education, and I think more and more parents are seeing the value of having their children leave with skills at 18 that give them more options. Giving them options is the name of the game, getting them life-ready is the name of the game, and I think that’s what vocational schools are able to do.
Whether a student wants to go get a four-year degree, they can undoubtedly do that from here, but also get right into their careers if they would like, because they already have the skills to do it. I don’t think we’re asking 14-year-olds to pick their career. But if I’m a student and I come here and I gain a skill, that can only benefit me in the future. So we take the motto “Life-ready” to heart. I think we are undoubtedly producing the next generation of the workforce here at Diman. …
Listen, you want to transform communities, you want to affect the next generation, I think it starts — I know it starts — in schools, right? Ninety percent of Americans start the same way: shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart, in public education. If you want to transform the next generation, that’s where it starts. I firmly believe that. It’s my passion. It’s my mission to get the kids life-ready.
We only have them for four years. They have an expiration date with us. And that’s what I’m committed to. You know, there’s a lot of talk about if we want to make our area better, or our state or our nation better, there has to be a focus on schools because that’s where 90% of Americans … get their start. So I firmly believe it, and we’re going to do it, and we have been doing it, as proven by the data. We’re going to keep it going.
Joanna McQuillan Weeks is a freelance writer and frequent correspondent for The New Bedford Light.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Congratulations to Andrew Rebello for winning the ‘Oscars of teaching’! A well-deserved recognition for outstanding contributions to education.
Kudos to Andrew Rebello for earning the ‘Oscars of teaching’—a well-deserved honor for his exceptional impact in education! 🏆👏