Mary Skipper is in her third year as Superintendent of the Somerville Public Schools. She joined the district in July of 2015 following an outstanding career at Boston Public Schools, and has quickly made her mark in Somerville as an innovative and visionary thinker, a passionate advocate for all youth, and a strategic systems builder whose approach includes leveraging community resources to support students.

Before coming to Somerville, Superintendent Skipper was Network Superintendent of High Schools for BPS, where she oversaw BPS' 34 high schools serving approximately 19,500 students. Under her leadership as Network Superintendent, Boston High Schools achieved the lowest drop-out and the highest graduation rates in BPS history. Among her most notable accomplishments while at BPS, Superintendent Skipper helped launch TechBoston Academy (TBA) as the founding Headmaster in 2002. During her tenure as TBA Headmaster, the Academy grew from a 9-12 high school serving 75 students, to a 6-12 school with a staff of more than 100 serving a diverse student population of more than 1,000, 30% of which were English Language Learners and 25% of which were Special Education students. President Obama visited TBA in March 2011 to recognize TBA’s achievement. Additional roles Superintendent Skipper held at BPS included Assistant Academic Superintendent for Pilot Schools, and Director of Technology within the Office of Instructional Technology.

Superintendent Skipper holds a Bachelor's in English and Latin from Tufts University. She earned a Master's in Education Policy from Harvard and a Master's in Urban Education Leadership from Columbia Teachers College. She is currently working toward her Doctorate in Urban Education Leadership from Columbia Teachers College.

Superintendent Skipper and her husband Peter, a teacher at BC High School, have three children: Kassie, a teacher in Denver; Lani, who works in agricultural policy at the Vermont School of Law; and Peter, who works as a consultant at Deloitte in Washington, D.C.