Joshua Olivier-Mason, known by many as Mr. OM, has been an English teacher at Lexington High School for the past 14 years. As a former independent school teacher and college educator, Olivier-Mason has recently expanded his repertoire and become LHS’s new English Department Head, while simultaneously continuing to teach American Literature and British Literature. 

Olivier-Mason enjoys teaching high schoolers, particularly the flexibility that they demonstrate in class.

“I like that, if the bell rings and [the class] hasn’t quite finished a point, I can come back to it. It’s not lost… And I like the community here,” Olivier-Mason said.

The role of English Department Head isn’t completely new to Olivier-Mason, as he transitioned from serving as interim head during the start of the 2025-26 school year to recently securing the permanent role. However, he had not expected himself to reapply for the job once the position opened up.

“I thought it’d be a lot more time on my computer, a lot less time with students, which I wasn’t excited about. Less time in the classroom, which I also wasn’t excited about,” Olivier-Mason said.

He has since come to view the position in a different light, one that allows for the open collaboration between English teachers of different classes, while still managing a standardized policy for students. 

“The department leader takes in the perspective of the 25 educators in your department who all have different perspectives and ideas as well […] you have to work with different groups of people to reach a conclusion that is best for students in the long run,” Scott Kmack, a dean in the Arts and Humanities building, said.

After an initial screening of candidates based on their resumes, four finalists were interviewed in front of a panel of volunteer teachers, parents, and students, alongside Dean Kmack. 

“We had one very long and involved day of interviews. […] At the end of those interviews, we spent probably close to two hours just discussing the contents of the interviews and making our recommendations as a hiring committee about whom we were most interested in,” Melissa Soule, an English teacher and a member of the hiring committee, said.

Panelists considered a definitive vision for the following years as an important quality for the future department head.

“Where do they see the English department moving forward in the age of AI, in the age of great political polarization, in an age where reading seems to be less and less of an emphasis in our society? How do we build an English department that is relevant, timely, and meaningful for students at this particular moment?” Soule said.

Alongside sending feedback to the principal and superintendent, the hiring committee also picked its top two candidates, who then moved forward to meet with the full leadership team. Principal Andrew Baker and Superintendent Dr. Julie Hackett made the final decision. 

Since Olivier-Mason comes from within the department, there are some unique opportunities for the trajectory of the department moving forward, which other teachers are excited about.

“I think he has some great ideas about directions that we could go in,” Soule concluded.