Letter from the Superintendent-March 12, 2010

Superintendent’s Message

Joseph F. Donatone Column 3/12/10

John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” In every organization there are those that people identify as leaders. These individuals often hold positions such as administrator, manager, captain and CEO. In a school district leaders come from all levels of the school community – administrators, teachers and parents.

Two years ago the Ashtabula Area City Schools was invited to partner with the Ohio Department of Education and several other Ohio school districts in a training program that was being developed for school leadership teams. The goal of the training was to develop a district team that would examine leadership structures and practices. While the district has made significant improvements in its performance on state tests over the last five years in math and reading, we can always do better!

There are three levels of teams. In the first year, the 2008-09 school year, the Ashtabula Area City Schools established a District Leadership Team (DLT) to bring together leaders from among the members of the school community to follow a four-stage process of identifying needs, developing a plan, carrying out the plan, and monitoring their progress. Thirty teachers, parents and administrators met monthly to study data about reading and mathematics and identify a plan through the Ohio Improvement Process (OIP). “It’s essential to have a single plan that everyone can follow and it’s to the district’s credit that they are willing to set aside the time to really work on this plan.” declared DLT member and parent Jill Applebee. The plan identifies instructional needs and practices that will help improve student achievement.

This year building level teams are being established to bring the same improvement process to the staff at each building and to develop a building plan. In the third and last year of the process we will be creating teacher-based teams at each building to really bring instructional change into the classroom and we will be monitoring the processes that were established in the plan.

The district leadership team plan will identify student needs in reading and mathematics PreK-12, give students the help they need to be successful, and provide students with a safe and caring learning environment so that more students attend school and graduate. The plan will improve school-community relationships through increased communication and family-civic engagement.

The Ohio Department of Education provided funding in both year one and two that permitted the district to set aside time and resources for teachers, parents and administrators to meet. A small group from the district leadership team also travels to meet representatives of other district teams to report on their progress, share successes and learn from each other. 

“AACS has created a framework for success that only a handful of other school districts in the state have had the opportunity to do. If you ask any expert in education what makes the difference for success in schools – they will answer ‘teacher collaboration about student work.’ This framework and AACS’ forward thinking to create Teacher Based Teams before the state expected it – has moved our work quickly to where it counts – with the students!” stated Kim Aponte, who acts as a coordinator for the group.

The members of the team are: Joseph Donatone, Superintendent and Jeanine Trebuchon-Wertz, Board Vice-President; Patrick Colucci, Assistant Superintendent; Sylvia Atkinson, Principal, Lakeside High School; Kathleen Reichert, Principal, Lakeside Junior High School; Valerie Harper, Principal, Lakeside Intermediate; Janie Carey, Principal, State Rd. and Plymouth Elementaries; Lori Riley, Director of Special Education; Jim Beitel, Principal, Saybrook Elementary; Beckie Evanson, Principal, McKinsey Elementary; Rosemary Bernato, Principal, Thomas Jefferson Elementary; Charles Tarantina, Supervisor, Windermere Preschool; Patty Craft, Assistant Principal, Lakeside High School; Cris Rutz, Assistant Principal, Lakeside Intermediate; Stephanie Anservitz, Head Teacher, Plymouth; Lisa Newsome, Head Teacher, State Rd.; Ann Marie Hiznay, State Support Team, Region 5; Pat Seymour, After School Discovery; Kim Aponte, Literacy Specialist, Saybrook Elementary; Susan Eschrich, Coordinator of the English as a Second Language Program; Jill Applebee, Parent, High School student; Brent Bunnell, Parent, Junior High student; Marianne Hornbeck, District Technology Coordinator; Lakeside Junior High teachers Amy Shaughnessy, Sue Marple and Shelly Davis; Elementary teachers Lisa Love, Allison Bartunek, and Jennifer Carle; Preschool teacher Lashell Gehring; Lakeside High teachers Don Rapose, Lynne Montgomery, Brian Toth, Janice Timonere, Annmarie Kistler, and Tim Ranck; Jean Wynne, Consultant; Lori Brobst, Literacy Coach; Dr. Judi Poluga and Pat French, Mathematics Coaches; Linda Callahan, Data Specialist; and School Psychologists April Tapper and Christina Gulley.

More information on the AACS District Leadership Team can be found on the district web site at www.aacs.net

Joseph F. Donatone

Superintendent of Schools

Ashtabula Area City Schools

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