Dr. Helen Friel (seated), School Committee Clerk, is retiring after serving WPS for 57 years. Pictured from left: Superintendent Rachel Monárrez, Committee members Laura Clancy and Jermoh Kamara, Mayor Joseph Petty, and Committee members Tracy O’Connell Novick and Sue Mailman.
WORCESTER – Thursday, July 20, 2023 – At its public meeting this afternoon, the Worcester School Committee and Superintendent Rachel Monárrez honored Dr. Helen A. Friel, the longtime School Committee Clerk and Assistant to the Superintendent who is retiring after serving the Worcester Public Schools (WPS) for 57 years.
In a ceremony that was attended by members of her family, Dr. Friel was presented with a bouquet of flowers and a ceremonial chair that is presented to longtime WPS employees who are retiring.
Mayor Joseph Petty, who is the Chair of the School Committee, thanked Friel for her decades of service, saying she was “always a class act.”
“You’ve been a good friend of mine and guided me when I first became mayor,” Petty said. “You’ve dedicated your life to the students, teachers, staff, and the School Committee.”
“It is not lost on me that you were one of the only women working at the DAB (Durkin Administration Building) for many, many years, and you’ve paved the way for us,” Dr. Monárrez said. “Your legacy will continue.”
Dr. Friel graduated from North High School in Worcester in 1961. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts in French with a minor in Spanish and Education from Emmanuel College in Boston. Upon finishing her degree, she immediately went on to complete a Master of Arts in French from Emmanuel College and Sorbonne University in Paris.
Dr. Friel was first hired into the Worcester Public Schools in 1966 as a Spanish and French Teacher at Doherty Memorial High School. She was promoted to a Department Head of the Foreign Language Department in 1981, which was the same year that she completed her Master of Arts in Spanish from Assumption College. A dedicated learner, she went on to receive her Doctorate in Education from Clark University in 1982.
After being promoted once again to the Coordinator of Foreign Language, then-Superintendent Dr. John Durkin extended an offer to Dr. Friel to become the first female administrator in the district as the Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent/Clerk of the School Committee.
“I will miss the people and the work, but I’m definitely looking forward to embarking upon the next chapter of my life, which will include quality time with my family, some of whom are here today, and travel,” Friel said during the ceremony. “Thanks again for the many happy memories.”
