To:
From: Bryan
Burrell, School Board President
Date: January
21, 2005
Re:
NEW
SUPERINTENDENT SELECTED
As the culmination of the District’s comprehensive
nationwide search, the Nyack School Board is pleased to announce its selection
of a new Superintendent of Schools. DR.
VALENCIA DOUGLAS will be appointed at the February 15 Board meeting and
will assume the position July 1, 2005.
She will replace Mrs. Zampolin, who as you know is retiring at the end
of the school year.
For the past four years Dr.
Douglas has been the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary and Middle Schools
in a diverse school district of 25,000 students in Madison, Wisconsin. For ten years previously she served in the
New Orleans School District as an Elementary Principal, a Special Assistant to
the Superintendent, and the Director of Academic Enhanced, Bilingual and
Foreign Language Programs. She has also
been the Director of the Street Academy Charter School in New Orleans. From 1974 to 1986 she taught in both regular
and special needs classrooms in New York, Maryland and Louisiana.
She holds a BS in Early
Childhood Elementary Education from Syracuse University, an MS in Special
Education also from Syracuse University, and an Ed.M
and Ed.D from Harvard University in Administration,
Planning and Social Policy.
The search process, facilitated by Jacqueline Roy, an
experienced search consultant of J.A. Roy Associates, began in September with
input sessions involving all segments of the school community on the
characteristics desired in a new Supt, which were to be used in the search
profile. Forty-eight candidates from
eleven states applied. The Board conducted interviews with seven semi
finalists, and further in-depth sessions, after extensive deliberation and
careful reference checks, with the two finalists selected.
Each of them visited the District last week, touring the
schools and meeting with staff and the community for question and answer
sessions. Written evaluations from those
sessions were carefully considered by the Board as well. To complete the process Board members visited
the home districts of each finalist, interviewing a broad range of members from
each school community.
The Board took its
responsibility to hire the best qualified leader for Nyack very seriously. Our commitment to an exhaustive process was
unwavering and we are confident that Dr. Douglas has the vision, experience,
skills and dynamic personality to help Nyack continue to be a learning
community where everyone can succeed. We
look forward to her becoming a part of our Nyack family.
Si ou bezwen enfòmasyon tradui an kreyòl, rele Jocelyne
Abraham nan 353-7044
Si le hace
falta información traducida en español, llame a Nancy Rodriguez al 353-7106.