Superintendent Spotlight: Barbara A. Malkas, Ed.D.

Superintendent, North Adams Public Schools

The science teacher who became a district leader continues to pursue her passions.

 

Today, she is the proud Superintendent of the North Adams Public Schools, but if Dr. Barbara A. Malkas had followed her original career path, she might instead be conducting medical research or performing open-heart surgery.

As an undergraduate at St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn, NY, Barbara majored in Chemistry and originally planned to apply to medical school. By junior year, she began exploring medical research instead but quickly found the work very isolating. Then a college adviser told Barbara she thought she would make a good teacher and mentioned a long-term substitute position available in Science in a nearby district. She decided to give it a try.

“And that was it. I walked into the classroom and realized I was home,” Barbara said. “I love the act of teaching, the engagement, the idea of inspiring young women particularly to enter into the sciences.”

So began a more than 40-year career in education. Barbara went on to earn a Master’s degree in Science Education and believed she would teach for the rest of her life. In 1986, she and her husband, John Euchler, moved to Massachusetts, and Barbara began teaching at Pittsfield High School. The couple lived in West Cummington, which Barbara said had a winter population of 80 residents, a significant change from the large urban environments in which they had both grown up, and exactly the change they were seeking.

Barbara later became Department Chair, Assistant Principal, and Coordinator of Mathematics, Science, Health, and Physical Education. She said that Dr. Katherine Darlington, then Superintendent in Pittsfield, encouraged Barbara to get her Superintendent certification and explore cabinet-level positions. In 2012, she became Superintendent of the Webster Public Schools, and in 2016, the North Adams Public Schools, where she continues to serve today.

“I’ve always considered myself an educator, whatever role I’ve been in,” she said.

Reflections on the Superintendency

When asked what she enjoys most about leading a school district, Barbara said, “It all comes back to the kids for me. When I see our students graduating, who were in elementary school when I first started in North Adams, and I see what they’ve accomplished – whether it’s getting credits through early college, or the number of scholarships, or for some, just getting to walk across the stage – it brings me so much joy to know that I’ve had a role in impacting the lives of that next generation.”

Barbara said she sees some of her own story in the students and families she serves today. She was raised in a working-class family, and her mother was a high school dropout who didn’t get her high school equivalency until she was almost 40 years old. 

“I am where I am today because of the teachers I had,” she said. “These are the people who said it’s okay to be smart – which was not a message many girls were receiving at that time – and if you’re smart, you can do something with it.”

It is because of those influential teachers, Barbara said, that she most values being in a role that allows her to support great teachers “who then ensure that our next generation is able to achieve – that’s priceless.”

The role, she said, is not without challenges. Barbara said she has seen a significant shift in recent years, requiring the Superintendent to become much more mired in political issues.

She said, “We are distracted from the real work … by a lot of adult concerns, issues, and behaviors that, quite frankly, become exhausting because they are so relentless. I’ve watched some colleagues get really beaten up and lose positions over this. It has really disturbed me to see highly qualified – mostly women – not able to do the work I know they’re able to do because of these distractions.”

Barbara cited her longstanding involvement with M.A.S.S. as a critical support system. She became involved with the organization through the New Superintendent Induction Program (NSIP). For the past eight years, she has been a member of the M.A.S.S. Executive Committee, including serving as President during the 2023-2024 school year. In 2024, Barbara was named Massachusetts Superintendent of the Year.

“I joined the Executive Committee mainly because I felt this organization has done so much for me as a Superintendent, that this was my chance to give back,” she said. “I also believe that Western Mass. needs a voice, and this gives me an opportunity to represent rural districts that may not have had much of a voice.” 

Achieving Work/Life Balance

Barbara remains active during the rare hours that she is not working, including hikes with her husband near their home in Clarksburg, and two-mile walks in the morning and evening with their two rescue dogs, Gunjir and Shiva the Destroyer. The couple also spends time with their two grown children, Eric and Kristin. Barbara is also a 500-hour certified yoga instructor, and she offers free community yoga lessons at North Adams Public Library.

Barbara is still able to pursue her early love of the sciences, too, in part through her involvement as a survivor with the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition. Barbara serves as President of the Board of Directors, and she has been active in the development of free educational resources for middle and high schools to help students understand their environments and the risk of carcinogens. 

“So I still get to wear my curriculum hat and my science educator hat,” she said. “This is a passion project for me.”