Danbury school educators prove that continuing to learn is important Many Danbury principals, administrators go on to earn doctorate degrees The end of the school year is filled with parties and celebrations of students and all they have accomplished. But the students aren’t the only ones with accomplishments to celebrate. This year, joining the ranks of many of their colleagues, two Danbury administrators: Kristy Zaleta, associate principal for instruction at the middle schools; and Anna Rocco, principal of Ellsworth Avenue School, both earned their Educational Doctorates in Instructional Leadership from Western Connecticut State University. “I love learning and always found myself expanding my knowledge base through reading and collaborating with other educators. Once in the program, my love of learning was further fueled by the rich discussions and varying perspectives of other educators, including teachers and administrators from a diverse group of districts,” said Zaleta. “My perspective of education grew from my own classroom to a larger district level and then outside of Danburys unique set of challenges. The more narrow pathway I saw for myself changed and I began to see more clearly the myriad ways a doctoral degree could open doors for me that I had not yet known existed.” Linda Harris, middle school humanities chair, received her Ed.D. in Curriculum Leadership degree from Northeastern University also this year. “I applaud and remain grateful to DPS administrators for encouraging me to take this arduous journey and for supporting me and my research along the way,” Harris said. “Ultimately, I believe students are the greatest benefactors from all continuing education teachers and administrators pursue. As professor and researcher Dr. John Hattie opined: ‘the more the student becomes the teacher and the more the teacher becomes the learner, the more successful are the outcomes.’” Dr. Sal Pascarella, who earned his Ed.D. from Loyola University and is also on the faculty at Sacred Heart University, said that a solid number of the district’s educators – both teachers and administrators -- are working on or have gone on to earn their doctorates. Deputy superintendent Dr. William Glass and Dr. Harry Rosvally, district coordinator for STEM, both earned Ed.D.s at Teachers College, Columbia University. Other educators who received Ed.D.s are Meghan Martins, associate principal of instruction for secondary schools, and Mary Cronin, principal of Mill Ridge Primary School. Frank LaBanca, principal at the district’s new magnet school, Westside Middle School, and Laura Mead, mathematics specialist in the schools, received Ed.Ds at WCSU. And there are many others following in their footsteps. Edie Thomas, principal of Pembroke Elementary School, is currently working on her Ed.D. at Northeastern University in Boston and is scheduled to finish in 2016. Helena Nitowski, principal of the Academy for International Studies (a magnet elementary school), and Tina Hislop, principal of the King Street campus, are currently in the Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership program at Western and are scheduled to finish later this summer and next summer, respectively. Kara Casimiro, K-12 humanities curriculum administrator, is currently in her last year of doctoral course work at Northeastern University in curriculum, teaching, learning and leadership. #Danbury Board of Education#
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 12:17:59 +0000
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