Dedicated in the memory of Principal Leonard Broughton

Leonard Broughton worked in the Masconomet School District for 38 years before retiring in 2005. Before becoming principal of the Middle School in 1991, he taught accounting, math, and computer technology, and he was the Department Head and Director of Occupational Education (Broms). He considered his most memorable moments as Principal to be moving the middle school into a new location, celebrating at eighth grade graduation parties, offering guidance to students, parents, and staff after 9/11, and trying to control a deer that made its way into a classroom (Broms). For a piece in the local newspaper, The Tri-Town Transcript, he stated that: “Outside of my family, working at Masconomet ‘is my life .... I enjoy working with the kids, particularly during this very challenging time in their lives'" ("Masconomet Regional Junior High"). According to an administrator who had worked with him, "He was kind and humble… and very dedicated” to his role as Principal (Silva). In the year 1998, he was named Middle School Principal of the Year by the 850 members of the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association (Steinmetz). Broughton's teaching and administrative philosophy was "that education stretches across the lines of traditional subject divisions" (Griffin), a belief that made him a remarkable principal worthy of recognition.

Broughton had a strong and lasting impact on the Masconomet community. He considered leading and comforting students, parents, and staff during the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks as one of his most memorable moments as principal (Broms). According to an interview with his colleague, Robert Beardsell, during 9/11 Broughton "was a presence… he was available, not only for the students but he was available for teachers as well. It was a difficult time for teachers, just on how to talk with kids about what had happened" (Beardsell). Broughton acted as "a guiding light" whose presence "made people feel at ease and with comfort and that they were safe in the school” (Beardsell). Arguably, his most lasting impact at Masconomet was his leadership through the transition from the old, smaller junior high school to the middle school, in the building where the senior high school was originally located. He adapted the school into a Middle School model and guided students through this transitional time (Bearsell).

Leonard Broughton retired from Masconomet Middle School in 2005 ("Leonard Charles Broughton"). After his retirement, the street in front of the Middle School was named after him in honor of both his leadership in the transition from the Junior High School building to the Middle School building and for his service as a beloved principal (Beardsell). Principal Broughton passed away in Carmel, California in May 2013 ("Leonard Charles Broughton").