Interview with Mr. Neil Rochelle, Supt. Iroquois Central School District, Western NY.

Handling H1N1: With Your Community, Media, and Social Media

Handling H1N1: With Your Community, The Media, and Social Media

Neil Rochelle, Superintendent of the Iroquois Central School district in Western New York, provides a riveting account the real needs facing district leaders across the USA and globe today regarding community issues such as H1N1. He discusses the topic, the unfolding of the experience in his district in fall 2009 and the strategies he employed, including social media communication. All of these details are included in this interview with District Leaders Podcast host Dr. Kathleen P. King. Bonus topics include social media decisions, relationships with the State Health Department, and what to do when the experts disagree!

Specific topics include the following issues:

• In the fall 2009, when your district had 500 of 3000 students home sick, why and how did you decide not to close the schools?
• How did you seek to control panic in the school community as H1N1 and other disease related issues were threatening to emerge?
• Where can district leaders turn for assistance and guidance?
• How did you use social media to communicate and build support and which ones did you use?
• What do you suggest superintendents do now and if facing the introduction of the flu into their school district populations?

Special features referenced in this interview:

• Read the community letter which Neil posted on the district website’s front page.
• Visit the H1N1 area of the District website Neil and his team created
• Neil’s Superintendent Community Newsletter

MORE RESOURCES

• Flu.gov
• Center for Disease Control (CDC) regarding H1N1

For more information on this subject or to connect with Neil

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Ning (below)

District Leaders Podcast is always Leading Today for Success Tomorrow!

Biographical Background

Currently, Neil Rochelle is Superintendent of Schools of Iroquois Central School District. Previously, he was not only superintendent of schools at Keshequa Central School, but prior to that elementary principal at Keshequa Central School.

Having been a teacher for 13 years, he has now been a superintendent for 10 years. His teaching roots are in special education. He also has a specialty in Traumatic Brain Injury and served as a consultant for the NYS Education Department. Before becoming a superintendent he was a Director of Special Education and an Elementary Principal.

Neil states his goals as a superintendent simply,

My goals are simple. Provide the best leadership I can for students to be successful 21st Century Learners. In the long-term, for students to be prepared for college or post-secondary plans and eventually successful in a competitive, global economy.

Neil was born and riased in New York City. He earned his degrees at State University of New York College at Brockport (CAS, Educational Administration) and State University of New York College at Genesco (MSE, Special Education)

Related Web Links:

• Iroquois School District web site
• Iroquois School District superintendent’s page
• Neil’s Superintendent Community Newsletter
• Virtually Iroquois- Neil’s District Ning
  • http://virtuallyiroquois.ning.com/
• Changing High Schools (Neil’s Blog)
  • http://changinghighschools.blogspot.com/

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Interview with Dr. William R. Hite, Jr., Supt of Prince George’s County Public Schools, MD First Interim Superintendent, then Superintendent!

Categories: Communication · Parents and Community · Financial Issues- Coping · Partnerships · Change Process · High Stakes Testing · Leadership · Making the Tough Decisions · Improving Student Performance · Trends in Education · Urban Education ·ARCHIVE ·

Biographical Background
Dr. William R. Hite, Jr. was named Interim Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) effective December 1, 2008 by the Prince George’s County Board of Education. Dr. Hite was hired as Deputy Superintendent of PGCPS in June 2006. Ensuring that all students graduate college- and career-ready, his work in Prince George’s County has been focused on school leadership development and improving the conditions for teaching and learning. This work continues at a rapid pace and without interruption, while the Board of Education implements a search for a new superintendent.

As Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Hite provided direct support to schools and was responsible for the departments of academics and accountability in addition to all six zone offices. He has led the work to reform high schools and restructure central support to enable need-based service to schools. Additionally, he developed systems used to measure central leadership effectiveness against student and school performance.

Previously, Dr. Hite was an Assistant Superintendent in the 106,000-student Cobb County School District in Georgia. While there, he supervised elementary, middle and high school principals and was responsible for the instructional programs for schools within his area.

Previously, he served as Director of Middle School Instruction in the Henrico County School System located outside of Richmond, VA. He also worked as a high school teacher and principal, and a middle school principal. Dr. Hite taught at the University of Richmond as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Continuous Learning.

Dr. Hite is a member of numerous local, state, and national boards including the Doctors Community Hospital Foundation. In 2005, he completed the Broad Superintendents Academy. Dr. Hite holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Virginia Tech.

Related Web Links:

• Prince George’s County Public Schools
• PGCPS Office of the Superintendent Web Page

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007-2009. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Interview with Author, Clayton Christensen

Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns

In this compelling and intriguing episode, Clayton M. Christensen describes the recent changes in the educational system- both in how it is changing and how it should be changed further. This special interview with our host Arthur Griffin reveals the importance of gaming to the modern student, both for leisure and the benefits that the student gleans from it, as well as discussing many other trends in the modern college student and going into detail about his book Disrupting Class. Join us to learn more about this fascinating author and the ideas he has developed over years of study and experience.

Biographical Background
Clayton M. Christensen, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School since 1992, is the bestselling author of five books, a renowned management consultant, and a seasoned entrepreneur. His research and teaching interests center on managing innovation, creating new growth markets, and making practical the theory of disruption by focusing on problems of strategy, innovation and growth. Through Innosight (www.innosight.com), the Watertown, MA-based consulting firm he co-founded in 2000, Professor Christensen has used his theory of disruptive innovation to shape the management strategies of well-known industry giants, such as Procter & Gamble, General Motors and Credit Suisse.

Of Professor Christensen’s five published books, his seminal work is The Innovator’s Dilemma (1997), which received the Global Business Book Award for the best business book of the year. In 2008, Professor Christensen released Disrupting Class and the Innovator’s Prescription (forthcoming), groundbreaking examinations of two of America’s most important public sectors through the lens of disruption.

Related Web Links:

• Book Information: Disrupting Class

• Book Web site: Disrupting Class

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Interview with Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, Dr. Joe Hairston

Community Partnerships and Student Achievement: “Blueprint for Progress” in Baltimore

Topics: Parents and Community · Coaching School Leaders · Communication · Partnerships · High Stakes Testing · Leadership · Making the Tough Decisions · Improving Student Performance · Trends in Education  · Urban Education · ARCHIVE

In this podcast episode, Dr. Hairston discusses what the presidency of Barack Obama means to him and to education. Dr. Hairston shares how he has been able to maintain a superintendency position in the same school district for nine years and the great successes he has led.

A visionary and progressive leader, Dr. Joe A. Hairston has served since 2000 as Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, one of the nation’s 25 largest school systems. In February 2008, the Baltimore County Board of Education approved a third four-year term for Dr. Hairston. His 12-year tenure will make him the county’s second-longest-serving superintendent.

Dr. Hairston’s results-based leadership has yielded a growing list of achievements including greater student participation in and success on Advanced Placement and SAT exams and greater accountability and resource conservation.

A career educator, Dr. Hairston’s ascent in education administration began and is rooted in the classroom. Over the years, he has developed and refined strategies that have proven successful in raising student achievement.

Our podcast host Carolyn Pearson says, “I loved this interview with Dr. Hairston. He was thoughtful in answering the questions, comfortable and clearly proud of the efforts of his district including the community whose trust he has won. When we finished the interview Dr. Hairston felt there was so much he did not cover and so many partnerships he has spearheaded so we agreed the meet again at the end of the school year.”

Enjoy this inspiring and visionary interview with one of the nation’s foremost educational leaders.

Biographical Background

Dr. Hairston began his career in 1969 as a teacher in Prince George’s County. Within two years of entering the classroom, he was appointed department chairperson and five years after that he became administrative assistant to a principal. He was appointed vice principal in 1977 and was named a principal in 1981.

Dr. Hairston’s success in high school reform raised his profile within the education community and in the media. In 1987, Dr. Hairston was selected as one of 30 U.S. principals to participate in the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Urban Principal Project, which was designed to establish a profile of the skills necessary for effective school management, and one of 10 U.S. principals to participate in an Urban Principal Conference at Harvard University. In 1988, he was cited in Time magazine and featured in Maryland Magazine and Baltimore Sun Magazine.

In 1989, Dr. Hairston was named assistant superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools. Then in 1995, he became the first appointed (rather than elected) superintendent of Clayton County Public Schools in Jonesboro, Georgia. During his tenure in Clayton County, he earned praise for infusing technology into the administration and schools, increasing business partnerships, and developing community advocacy and fiscal support for the school system.

After an intensive search, the Baltimore County Board of Education selected Dr. Hairston to serve as superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools. In his first year, Dr. Hairston charted a direction for the school system through the Blueprint for Progress, which presents key strategies and concrete performance indicators. The Blueprint also provides structure for the BCPS Master Plan.

In addition to his demanding role as Superintendent, Dr. Hairston has numerous professional and civic affiliations. He serves on the College Board’s Superintendent Advisory Panel, Governor’s Task Force to Study Raising the Compulsory School Attendance Age to 18, Johns Hopkins University School of Education Advisory Board, Blackboard’s K-12 Advisory Board, Maryland Partnership for Teaching and Learning K-16 Leadership Council, and many other educational and community organizations.

A native of Virginia, Dr. Hairston earned a doctorate in education administration from Virginia Tech (1993), a master’s degree in administration and physical education from American University (1976), and bachelor’s degree in biology and physical science from Maryland State University (now the University of Maryland Eastern Shore) (1969).

Related Web Links:

• Baltimore County Public Schools

• Office of the Superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools

• The Education Channel: Baltimore County Public Schools

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Interview with Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District Superintendent
Dr. David Anthony

Coping Successfully with Financial Hardships

Coping Successfully with Financial Hardships

In this interview, Dr. David Anthony of the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District, of Cypress Fairbanks, Texas, is interviewed by District Leader’s podcast host Jason Marshall. Dr. Anthony, considered to be one of the state’s most knowledgeable, and active leaders in the issue of public school finance and funding in Texas.  Dr. Anthony speaks about the funding crisis in Texas, and what is being done at the state legislative level, and local level. The Texas Education funding crisis is seen by many to be dire, and has hit Cypress Fairbanks particularly hard. This piece provides educational insight into the Texas public school finance issue, and how it relates to larger districts. Cypress Fairbanks is the largest school district in Texas given the rating of “Recognized”.

Dr Anthony is also well known and respected for bond referendum success and community satisfaction. Dr. Anthony discusses strategies related to the communication, planning, management, and expectations in dealing with bond elections. Enjoy this podcast with one of Texas’s most respected educational leaders.

Large, geographically spread out districts can also fall prey to communication failure. Dr. Anthony discusses his philosophy related internal and external communication in a way that will be enjoyed by all.

Cypress Fairbanks is the 3rd largest school district in Texas, and the 29th largest district in the nation with 97,000 students. There are 186 square miles of land within the boundaries of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. This makes it the second largest school system in land area out of the 22 districts in Harris County. Bordered by seven other school districts—Houston, Spring Branch, Katy, Klein, Aldine, Tomball and Waller—it is also the second largest district in terms of student enrollment. There are more than 96,000 students enrolled in CFISD for the 2007- 2008 school year—second only to Houston ISD.

Biographical Background
Dr. David Anthony began his career as superintendent of schools in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD on July 1, 2004. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education from East Texas Baptist College in 1974, a Master of Education in Administration and Supervision from Northwestern State University in 1977 and a Doctor of Education degree from NSU in 1986. Prior to accepting the position of superintendent in CFISD, he served as superintendent in McKinney ISD, Texas City ISD, Mount Pleasant ISD, and High Island ISD.

Related Web Links:

• Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District, of Cypress Fairbanks, TX

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.