School district leaders from the three districts detailed the wide variety of their latest efforts for an audience of more than 50 during a Chamber of Commerce serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton event in the Windamere hall in downtown Middletown.
The city’s school, which are the largest of the three districts, has in the last year drawn the brightest spotlight for a series of innovative reforms designed to reverse the school system’s lagging academic performance of past years.
Through a historic, district-wide open house and rally to deploying digital learning technology, Middletown’s high-profile efforts “are getting national attention,” Middletown Schools senior director of curriculum and innovation Frances Morrison told the audience.
“We are so proud of what are teachers are doing … to close the achievement gap for our students,” said Morrison.
“We call what we are doing the Middie Modernization Movement … we have really worked to brand the work that we do so that the public can embrace it and be a part of it,” said Morrison, who filled in as the district’s representative at the event because Superintendent Marlon Styles Jr. was out of town.
Monroe Schools Superintendent Kathy Demers was this year’s newcomer, having taken over the district after former district leader Phil Cagwin retired last summer.
Demers said the transition has been made easier by the cooperative network coordinated in part by chamber officials.
Monroe Schools have launched a variety of improvement programs but wanted to also update the district’s strategic plan to guide current and future reforms, said Demers.
“We put together a committee of various stakeholders,” she said, adding the overriding question being considered is “what to do we need to know in preparing our children for a bright future … and what do those skill sets look like as we move forward.”
Edgewood Schools’ Pam Theurer, coordinator of teaching and learning, said her district’s strategic plan is a “living, breathing document.”
“Our schools and all of our departments are looking for how they can come up with their own action steps that would apply to the strategic plan.”
Rick Pearce, president and CEO of the chamber, said the education summit is a window into just a few of the innovations being tried by local schools.
“It’s important for our members to see and learn what our public school districts are doing,” said Pearce. “They are changing education and that will be better for the student and therefore better for them as employees in the long run.”
“It gives the schools an opportunity to tout what they are doing in front of the business world, which will be hiring those employees either right out of high school or right out of additional training with a certificate or a two-year or four-year school,” he said.
About the Author