RSS Feed
|
|
|||||
|
New team at the elementary school Miller, Slade and Horton hired
Miller is married to school committee member Jane Miller and was interviewed for the elementary school principalship in March by a search committee composed of faculty and parents, but was not invited back for a second interview. Cordell Jones, principal of Woodridge Elementary School in San Antonio, Texas was offered the NES principalship during that round of interviews, but turned it down due to the high cost of living on the island. Pellicone said it is not unusual for a sitting school committee member to have a spouse or a family member employed by the school district. School committee member Timothy Lepore's wife Cathy is the school adjustment counselor and committee member Robin Harvey's daughter is a teacher in the system. Under the state's Education Reform Act, superintendents can appoint building principals and other staff without the school committee's vote. Miller's career in public education spans 38 years, including eight years as an elementary school and junior high school teacher in Norwich, Connecticut and Nantucket before moving into administrative positions. In addition to serving as NES principal, he was a founder and director of the Nantucket Learning and Resource Center, one of the nation's first federally funded teacher centers, and was a visiting practitioner at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Most recently, Miller has been working as a consultant to distressed schools in the Greater Boston area, commuting from his home on the island. "He has a lot of experience and a track record in turning schools that have not met AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and have low MCAS scores," said Pellicone. Nantucket Elementary School is on the state Department of Education's watch list as a school "in need of improvement" for the second year in a row. In September, NES could come off the watch list, should the MCAS scores from April 2008 show marked improvement. If not, the state DOE might intervene and take corrective action, which might include curriculum changes and personnel changes. "The search committee was split on him (Miller)," said Pellicone. "In the end, I took someone I thought would do a good job until we hire a permanent principal. The search continues, it might take two, three or six months." Since Nancy Larrabee stepped down as NES principal in June of 2006, the superintendent has had a difficult time attracting a long term administrator in the elementary school. Paul Koulouris served as principal for one year, followed by assistant superintendent of schools Carlos Colley, serving as interim principal last year. Nina Slade, a 22-year veteran of the school system, who worked as an administrative intern in the superintendent's office last year, was appointed this week interim assistant principal at the elementary school. Slade starts her new position on August 18. Slade is a licensed reading specialist and a past recipient of the Nantucket Golf Club's Excellence in Teaching award. She played a leading role, along with NES teacher Helaina Jones, in starting a Reading Recovery program on Nantucket. Reading Recovery is a highly effective, short-term, early literacy intervention program that provides intense individualized support for students in the first grade. The goal of the program is to bring students' reading scores above the average. Slade's salary has yet to be determined. Michael Horton worked as the administrative intern to assistant superintendent of schools and acting NES principal Carlos Colley last year in the elementary school. Horton, who is certified to teach elementary school mathematics, will be heading the Respond Intervention and Mathematics program. "We're pleased to have this new NES leadership team in place in time for the coming school year," said Pellicone. I |
for larger version       |
||||
)