Koetke to Join Bronxville Leadership Team

Superintendent David Quattrone announced today that Dr. Mara Koetke is his choice for the newly-created position of Director of Curriculum and Instruction. He will present his recommendation to the Board of Education at its June 19th meeting.
 

Since 2008 Dr. Koetke has served as Principal of Public School #77, the Lower Lab School for Gifted Education. Prior to that she was Assistant Principal of Public School #334, The Anderson School, housing grades K-8. Her teaching experience has included stints in several suburban school districts as well as New York City.
 
Koetke earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh, and her masters’ and doctorate degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University. In 2013 she was named a Cahn Fellow at Teachers College, a professional development program for outstanding principals.
 
To help design this new position the District enlisted the services of Martin G. Brooks, Director of the Tri-State Consortium. After meeting with several faculty groups and reviewing a needs assessment survey, the District adopted the following specifications for this position:

• A careful listener and effective communicator who values collaboration and innovation
• A hands-on leader who builds effective relationships and engages all stakeholders in the development of a K-12 vision for the improvement of student performance
• A strategic thinker who can help the district improve cohesion among the Common Core Learning Standards, state and federal requirements, data analysis and research relating to effective practices
• An educator, first and foremost, who understands the complex relationships among assessment, instructional practice, and curriculum, and how wise and meaningful use of technology can enhance those relationships.

Quattrone said that Koetke emerged from the search process as an outstanding educator who meets all the criteria.The candidate pool included over 180 candidates. Central office administrators, working with Dr. Brooks, selected and interviewed ten, including curriculum directors from other districts, principals, and teachers with extensive experience with professional development. A faculty committee representing all schools and most departments interviewed five and selected two for further consideration. The screening committee praised Koetke's analytical skills, her knowledge of technology and instruction, and her ability to engage others in problem solving.
 
Reference checks confirmed that she was an superior candidate. Her mentor called her a “magnificent, brilliant educator,” who won the trust of a challenging parent community. She went to describe Koetke as a “good listener who thinks, reflects, and asks good question. She knows what good practice looks like.” The district supervisor who hired Koetke in New York City described her at the top of the forty-two principals she supervised, a person who “understands teachers and levels of learning.” The leader of her network reported that she “went to a school that was considered the jewel of the system, but she didn't settle. She moved it to the next level, which is hard to do in a school that is already very, very good.” A fellow principal described her as “very intelligent and a great colleague who collaborates well with others. She is generous with her ideas and has earned great respect from her staff. She will be an incredible addition to your staff.”

Koetke will begin her new role on July 1, 2014.

New Technology Initiatives Get Going

Launching a new technology initiative, Superintendent David Quattrone described plans to expand infrastructure, provide students with multiple kinds of devices, and offer training that supports technology as an essential tool for learning. Currently, the uses of instructional technology are mostly centered in labs, rather than available throughout classrooms.  The lab approach limits access and tends to separate technology from ongoing lessons.  Quattrone said the faculty and students are eager to bring into school the hardware and software tools that are readily available in the world outside.  He pointed out that no one device or platform makes sense for all age groups, and that further, whatever we do now will undoubtedly change with experience and innovation.

A rapidly evolving issue, Quattrone added, is data protection.  The state has stringent requirements with respect to safeguarding student privacy, and all third party vendors must comply with state and federal regulations regarding data security, confidentiality.  "These concerns warrant careful monitoring as we go forward," he said.

John Krouskoff

Quattrone then introduced BOCES consultant John Krouskoff. Since February Krouskoff has met with teachers, administrators, and members of the Bronxville School Foundation to assess current practices and identify promising new directions.  He gave a presentation, "Digital Tools to Support Student Learning." Board members Ruth Wood asked how the Board could accelerate expanded access and bandwidth.  Quattrone stated that the initial step was to ensure wireless access in every classroom and that was the goal for this summer. However, additional work would be necessary, depending on available funds. Other questions focused on the need to move toward digital textbooks, ensuring access for all students -- including those without computer access at home, and the hardware replacement schedule.  Krouskoff said that the current recommendation is for a three-year replacement cycle for Google Chromebooks.

Krouskoff concluded his presentation by emphasizing the need to stay current with technology innovations and identified several next steps:

• Develop a cohort of Bronxville Google Educators
• Allocate resources to encourage teacher modeling of anytime/anywhere learning
• Develop units of study that embed the purposeful use of technology
• Establish teacher-centered professional learning communities
• Pilot the use of Google Apps with specific cohorts of students.

Quattrone reported that one promising early result is that over forty people have volunteered to become Google certified teachers, participating in the program on a voluntary basis. Krouskoff's work will continue through next year, supplemented by other training resources.

Board Appoints Elementary Leadership Team

Tricia Murray, Elementary Principal

At its April meeting the Bronxville Board of Education appointed Tricia Murray as Principal and Adrienne Laitman as Assistant Principal of the Bronxville Elementary School.  Currently Assistant to the Principal at Putnam Valley Elementary, Murray has degrees from the University of Michigan, NYU, and Baruch College.  Additional background information can be found here.

Murray will spend a day in the district in early May, visiting the Elementary School Council and meeting with teachers and others. Superintendent David Quattrone thanked the Board members, parents, administrators, faculty and staff for partiicpating in a thorough, comprehensive process.

Adrienne Laitman, Assistant Principal

Laitman, currently in her second year as Interim Assistant Principal, joined the Bronxville faculty in 1997 and has served as a curriculum leader as well as numerous other leadership capacities. She has degrees from Brandeis University, Teacher's College, Columbia, and, as part of the Future School Leaders Academy, Bank Street College of Education. Quattrone praised Laitman's work in developing a new internship program with LIU-Hudson and initiating a lesson study approach in which teachers visit each others' classrooms as a way of designing more effective lessons.

Heidi Menzel, Curriculum Coordinator

With these actions, the Board has put a leadership team in place after two years with interim appointments.  In a related move, the Board also appointed Heidi Menzel to a one-year position as curriculum coordinator. Menzel became Assistant Principal of the Elementary School in 1996 and served as Interim Principal for two years. Quattrone praised her performance as a "capable, thoughtful, and caring professional, whose practical approach strengthened a climate of trust and collaboration in the school.  In her new role Menzel will continue to evaluate select Elementary School teachers, serve as the district's chief information officer, and provide direct assistance to the new K-12 Director of Curriculum and Instruction.

Board Awards Tenure to Eight Faculty Members

At its April meeting the Bronxville Board of Education awarded tenure to eight faculty members. Each of the teachers completed a successful probationary period involving multiple classroom observations conducted by multiple evaluators.  The observations rate each teacher as basic, developing, effective, or highly effective on twenty-two separate components in four domains -- planning and preparation, classroom management, instruction, and professional responsibilities.  In addition, where applicable, student achievement results are part of the consideration. As in the past, the public is invited offer commentary on tenure candidates. At the end of the process, principals make recommendations to the Superintendent of Schools.

Board President David Brashear and Superintendent David Quattrone both expressed their congratulations and appreciation.

This year's group includes the teachers shown below.