Dr. Paul Stein has worked in various schools and communities throughout his career; this year, he became the superintendent of the Wayland Public Schools.

Stein started his job as the new superintendent  on July 1st, 2011, replacing Dr. Gary Burton, who had been the superintendent  for seventeen years.

After attending Cornell University as a math major, Stein discovered where his interests intersected.

“I really liked math, but I also felt the need to be with people, so I thought that being a math teacher combined my interests together,” he said.

Stein was a student teacher in upstate New York, and at the age of 21, he moved to the Boston area for graduate school.

Over the years, Stein has had many jobs in education. He started as a math teacher at an alternative high school in Somerville and later became the director of the high school.

Stein was also the assistant principal at Pollard Middle School in Needham, the principal of F.A. Day Middle School in Newton, and then the deputy superintendent of Newton Public Schools.

“I had known Wayland over the years. I originally became familiar with it when I worked in Needham, and I used to come for meetings,” Stein said. “I always liked the values of the people that worked here and also the values of the community.”

Although Stein was not looking for a job at the time, he realized the opportunity to be the superintendent of Wayland was one he could not pass up.

He had known previous Wayland Public Schools administrators Charlie Ruopp and Richard Shay.

“It was a combination of the people and values that I really liked,” said Stein.

Stein’s currently working on new initiatives, such as the One to One initiative slated to begin next fall. Stein is also an advocate of adding the study of Chinese language to the school system. He also wants to add an exchange program between WHS and a school in Beijing.

For right now, Stein is concentrating on his goal of supporting students and helping them learn.

“[The students] come first. We have a responsibility to their education, and if for some reason it isn’t working, then we aren’t doing something right,” Stein said.

As much as Stein is working on bringing new ideas to Wayland, he also wants to maintain the strong aspects of the Wayland Public Schools system.

“I think what I’m bringing to Wayland is more reflected in the goals I have for the school system,” said Stein. “Part of those goals include working with the faculty and the administrators; part of my goal is to sustain those great parts of Wayland.”