Head of schools in Burlington dies

Burlington School Superintendent Katie Spinos, an energetic administrator who stressed international education and encouraged students to travel abroad, died Tuesday, just three weeks before the start of school.

Spinos, 48, previously assistant superintendent in Newton and Burlington, was about to begin her first full school year as superintendent in Burlington, a job she began in January. She had already built a reputation across the state as an intelligent and compassionate woman with a fierce commitment to improving public education.

"She was a remarkable individual," said Thomas Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. "She had an impact not just around Burlington. She had an impact around the state."

Just three weeks ago, Spinos led a panel at a superintendents' conference on preparing students for the global economy.

She died from a type of anemia that she had lived with for 20 years, according to her brother, Mark Spinos of Tunbridge, Vt. Her condition worsened suddenly last week, and she died late Tuesday after eight days at Brigham and Women's Hospital, he said.

"It's just a tragic loss," said Burlington School Committee chairman Stephen A. Nelson.

The School Committee will hold an emergency executive session tonight to discuss district leadership, he said.

Nelson said Spinos was a "perfect fit for the community," given her experience with numbers, planning, and curriculum development in her previous administrative jobs in Newton and Burlington. Before becoming superintendent, she had been assistant superintendent in Burlington for 7 1/2 years.

"I found her to be a very brilliant woman; she really had a great vision," said Nelson, who had worked with her in Burlington. "Her time-management skills were unbelievable. She never made you feel like she didn't have time for you, even though she was juggling 100 things at once."

Burlington Town Administrator Robert A. Mercier praised Spinos for her efforts to build the relationship between the town and the school system.

"She was a vehicle for change," Mercier said. "She was somebody who knew where she wanted to take the system. Unfortunately, she didn't get an opportunity to do it."

Spinos, a lifelong Arlington resident, was the daughter of a Greek immigrant seamstress and a Greek-American truck driver. She taught herself to read before kindergarten, devoured books as a child, and paid her way through undergraduate and graduate studies in education at Boston College, said her brother, Mark Spinos.

Spinos was raising her two children, Joanna, 15, and Peter, 18, on her own; her mother, Bessie Spinos, also lived with her.

A funeral for Spinos will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Somerville, her brother said.

Eric Moskowitz can be reached at emoskowitz@globe.com.