From Friends of CRLS, Jan. 21: The board of Friends of CRLS is proud to announce the hiring of its first executive director, Elaine Schear.

Said Jamie Sabino, the group’s acting president, “For its first seven years, FOCRLS ran solely on volunteer effort. During that time, due to the support of the Cambridge community, our organization and its programs have grown – six core programs, supported in FY2014 by over $115,000 in donations. But for FOCRLS to be able to sustain and grow its programs, it became clear that a staff structure was needed to leverage the efforts of our volunteers and ensure the organization’s sustainability, and we are pleased to be able to take the important step of hiring an executive director.”

The executive director search was a vigorous process that considered many candidates in a two-tiered interview process, part of which included both group board members and members of the wider Cambridge community.

Schear is one of the group’s co-founders and has served as the organization’s treasurer and president, as well as being involved in all aspects of organizational development, including program development, community outreach and fundraising. As executive director, she will be particularly focused on strengthening the group’s donor base and community investment in Cambridge Rindge and Latin high school and its students.

She has an Ed.D. from the Harvard School of Education and spent much of her professional career in education. She has taught at the elementary and high school levels, held faculty positions in teacher education programs at Emmanuel and Wheelock colleges, taught writing at various local colleges, including Harvard University, and administered Roxbury Community College’s Teaching-Learning Center. She is a tutor of writing skills at the high school’s Tutoring Center and a recipient of the Cambridge School Volunteers Mack Davis Award for excellence in tutoring. She is the parent of two CRLS graduates, from the classes of 2010 and 2014.

FOCRLS’ mission is to develop, support, and enrich the academic and social development programs at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and to support alumni of its and its predecessor schools. In addition to scholarships, its programs include Faculty Innovation Grants, Student Travel Fellowships, Unsung Heroes Awards, Faculty Distinction Awards and the “It Takes A Village” College Success Program.

For information about the group and its programs, to donate or to get involved, click here, send email here or call (857) 235-9290.