[1][2] In July 1966, Wood was appointed to be Boston's first Black principal, at the Dearborn Elementary school district in Roxbury.

[1][2] Shortly after a press conference in which her appointment was announced, Wood told the Bay State Banner: "I resented the fact that I was singled out as an oddity.

[2] The Roxbury, Hyde Park, and Mattapan neighborhoods in Boston have large populations of Black residents, as well as those from other racial minorities.

[4] Particularly during the decades in which Wood taught and served as principals in these communities, the school systems were poorly funded and were allocated few resources.

[1][5] In 1966, Wood was awarded for her "outstanding service to the ideals of brotherhood" by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.