By Amy Batista, Special Writer
EAST WINDSOR – The superintendent is making the rounds and working on becoming more familiar with the East Windsor Regional School District and the educational community as the new year kicks off and he works with the Board of Education to set goals for the remaining year.
He took the opportunity to visit the Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) this month starting with his first visit to the Ethel McKnight PTO on Jan. 12.
“I just wanted to tell you a little bit about myself and just give you some background,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard Katz as he said as he started the presentation.
He said that he has been married for 18 years and has a 14-year-old daughter who is currently a freshman in high school. His wife is a pre-K teacher, so she is also in education. Before coming to East Windsor, Dr. Katz was a superintendent in Saddle Brook, which is also a pre-K through 12th grade school district, in Bergen County.”
Before that, he was in Hunterdon County for six years in Clinton, which is a K through 8th school district, where he was a principal, superintendent and a director of special services.
Dr. Katz started with the district on Dec. 1, 2015.
“I’ve been spending a lot of the time just trying to meet and talk to as many people as possible,” he said, adding that includes parents, board members, school leaders, and teachers in large groups and in small groups.
He said it’s been great for him starting in the middle of the year versus starting in the summer so he can get settled.
“I have found it quite beneficial to start in the middle of the school year because everything is happening,” said Dr. Katz. “I can walk around the schools instead of having to wait two to three months to see the students and how the classes are going. I’ve been able see all the programs and see how it is all working, and how the teachers, the parents, and the school leaders and students interacting with each other,” he said. “I think it is all great.”
Dr. Katz said he wanted to share his philosophy of education and a couple of key words with the group.
“The messages that we send out are consistent and our beliefs are consistent in what we are trying to do for your children, which really shows a shared vision and philosophy,” he said.
He said “opportunity” was the first thing he wrote in the letter he sent home before winter break and he highlighted and wanted to reinforce tonight.
“To me, that’s what schools exist for, to provide students with opportunities,” he said.
He said he categorizes it in three ways – opportunities to explore something that they are interested in, opportunities to be exposed to things that if not for the schools they wouldn’t be, and opportunities that exist because they came to our school system.
“When they graduate our job is to ensure at they have a plan for what they want to do next and that they have the skills and the knowledge that they need to carry out that plan,” he said.
Those pieces are always the driving force behind his leadership style and leadership beliefs, he added.
“I think things like this make us operate as an educational community,” he said, adding that it’s that multidirectional communication that makes the biggest difference. He said that he will always be seeking opportunities to share with them and but to give them opportunities to share back to him as well.
“Empowerment is a word that I use a lot,” he said. “I think that people are our greatest resource.”
Dr. Katz believes that a child’s educational experiences are impacted more by the educators that they interact with every day then anything else that they do.
“It doesn’t mean that we don’t give attention to curriculum, instructional strategies or programs,” he said. “It’s really the quality of our staff that makes the biggest difference. We need to make sure we have the highest quality people in our classrooms,” he said, adding that is really their greatest resource.
Among the issues he addressed was full-day kindergarten.
“Our intention is to have full-day kindergarten in places for September of next (school) year,” he said. “I keep saying that, which means I better do it, right?”
In his letter addressed to the educational community on Jan. 15, Dr. Katz said that five goals were approved at the board of education meeting, including one to develop a plan to guide the implementation of a successful and consistent full-day kindergarten program districtwide.
“We have already started with the beginning stages of planning it,” he said. “It’s really about redesigning the curriculum and the approach,” adding it’s redefining how our classrooms look and the way that they instruct.
One parent asked about if he expected any community push back in terms of the full-day kindergarten implementation.
“I have not heard any and I asked a lot of people because there are different views on that,” he said, adding that everybody he has spoken to has been in favor of it.
She asked will it be up for a board vote or will it just be incorporated into next year’s budget.
“We are going to do it within the budget,” he said, adding with that comes a plan for sustaining it. “Our schools are not equal in enrollment and they are not equal in space.”
Another goal is to improve the frequency, quality and consistency of existing district communication in order to reach all members of the school community and engage stakeholders in their focus on student achievement.
“Other things that have emerged as patterns and things they need to immediately focus on in the short-term is communication and consistency,” he said during the meeting.
He said there is not a whole lot of flow of information of what they do, why they do it and how they make the decisions that they make.
“Putting out communication of what do we stand for in our school district,” he said. “What are we about and what is it that we are trying to accomplish and then highlighting those things as they are happening in our schools and keeping people informed of changes that occur while they occur and how they fit in with our vision.”
He said in the future parents could expect to see some social media developed.
“I have talked to all the PTOs about this to use some Twitter and or Facebook to start to reach out to parents to start sharing information on really on a regular, on-going basis,” he said. “I think it is easier to read quick things like that than a 10-page newsletter that comes out every couple of weeks with outdated information too.”
He said he definitely wants to reach the largest possible audience in doing that.
“So really the communication is designed to keep people informed but also to help promote what is happening in our schools and to help people understand a common language and a common understanding and to be part of the development of our shared vision that leads to consistency,” he said.
A third goal approved for the remainder of the year is create a more philosophical cohesive district leadership team through the implementation of a leadership team study group, which develops conversation empowerment and shared vision among leaders.
“This goal is designed to reunite school leaders after several superintendent transitions over the last six years,” he said
A fourth goal approved is to create a parent education program to help build a closer homeschool partnership with a Pacific focus on academic topics.
In his letters sent home to parents, Dr. Katz said that during his introductory meetings with PTO Parent leaders there were repeated request for parent education and training programs.
“Topics with parents related to understanding standards-based report cards, how to help support the learning at home, creating a common academic language, and understanding our curricular expectations,” he said. “These may not be the topic alternately presented but a clear desire for programming was expressed. I know we already hosted a number of nights or parents and we will be creating a master catalog evaluate whether we are hitting the best areas for the audience.”
A fifth goal approved is to update elementary grade report cards.
“We have heard from parents that it is hard to navigate and understand what that report card is telling you and what it means,” he said.
According to the letter, is this has been a topic of discussion before this superintendent’s arrival.
“We are taking the opportunity now to make revisions for next year,” he said. “The current standards base report cards or eight years old and no longer reflect standards that are being taught in classrooms they are also not teacher or parent friendly our goal is to address all of those items.”
Parent Joel Greenberg raised concerns over the different grade levels not being consistent with the grade portals.
“It wouldn’t necessarily be used the same way,” said Dr. Katz.
Mr. Greenberg said sometimes a particular school might do a particular thing better than another school or use the grade portal in another way.
“We can find the good things and then use them and repeat them at another school,” said Dr. Katz, using the example of how the Kreps School using the grade portal to schedule teacher conferences.
