About Bill

Bill Samaras marches in the 2013 Lowell Folk Festival parade.

William “Bill” Samaras was born in Lowell  and grew up in the Christian Hill neighborhood.  As a young man, Bill worked in his father’s store, Henry’s, on Bridge Street before graduating.  Bill graduated from Lowell High School and went on to attend Boston University and Salem State College and Northeastern University for his undergraduate and graduate degrees. As a young man, Bill worked as a substitute teacher at Varnum School where he found his lifelong passion for the students of the Lowell Public Schools.

Bill held several positions in the school system before being named Master of Lowell High School in 1986 under Headmaster Peter Stamas.  In 1991, Samaras was named headmaster of Lowell High School and he would hold that position for 19 years until his retirement in 2010.  During his tenure as the headmaster, Lowell High would be named one of the top urban high schools by U.S. News and World Report and one of the best managed public schools by Boston Magazine. As headmaster, Samaras sought to create partnerships with local institutions, such as the Lowell Plan, the hospitals, banks and various agencies, particularly in the realm of public safety and student scholarship funds.  While Samaras was headmaster, over $4.5 million was raised for scholarships for LHS students.

After his retirement from Lowell High School, Bill has served in several different roles in the Haverhill Public Schools.  A 2012 inductee into the LHS Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame, Bill has continued to work with various organizations and scholarship programs for Lowell High School.

A lifelong resident of the city, Bill lives in Lowell with his wife, Joyce and has two sons, Chris and John, daughter-in-law Jennifer, and two granddaughters, Caroline and Audrey.