August 1, 2022
Dear Croton-Harmon Community:
We hope that you are enjoying the summer, and that you are finding time for activities which help you to find joy and relaxation.
As the district’s summer break began during the last week in June, our team of administrators and faculty members were able to take part in the national Learning 2025 conference in Washington, D.C. As you have likely read in a recent edition of Croton Connections or our Budget newsletter, Learning 2025 is a consortium of school districts from throughout our nation who are committed to envisioning and creating schools which are student-centered, equity-focused, and future-driven.
During our time at the conference in Washington, D.C. our team was inspired by opportunities to connect and share ideas with school districts from across our country, and we were able to spend time considering how our district might best chart a path toward continued improvement and innovation going forward. We were able to see examples of how other districts have put their innovative ideas into practice and to envision how our district can be at the forefront of this work. We were left with many ideas for how we can approach the essential question driving our work going forward: How will the Croton-Harmon Schools develop into a future-driven school system? Our work this summer and through the next school year will be focused on pursuing answers to this question and will include developing our new Strategic Plan, the work of our district’s Innovation Team, our participation in the Learning 2025 program, and the creation of a proposed plan to upgrade our facilities.
We know that we can create a future-driven school system that builds upon our outstanding record of student academic success, while broadening our concept of what makes a school, and its students, successful. Advancing beyond the pursuit of a grade or a test score, we believe that success for our students should mean that they regularly experience moments in our schools which spark joy, inspiration, creativity, and which reflect authenticity and relevance to their lives. This doesn’t mean that good grades aren’t what our students should strive for, but instead, that they should be the
natural and well-deserved byproduct of experiences designed to ignite a passion for learning and creating in every one of our Tiger students.
Each member of our faculty, staff, community, and everyone reading this message has a part to play in the academic success for which our district has become known. Now, we believe the time is right for us, as a school district community, to continue to envision a definition of success for our students which is based on being future-driven.
Thank you for your support of every one of our Tiger students, staff members, and our schools.
With Tiger Pride,
Stephen Walker, Superintendent of Schools
John Griffiths, Assistant Superintendent
Jerrod Blair, Director of Technology and Innovation
Rachel DePaul, Director of Pupil Personnel Services
Laura Dubak, Principal, Croton-Harmon High School
Michael Plotkin, Principal, PVC Middle School
Kerri Bianchi, Principal, CET Elementary School
Craig Campanaro, Instructional Support Services, CET
Erica Fiorini, Dean of Students/Faculty Member, CHHS
Ashley Valentine, Faculty Member/Pedagogical Coach, CHHS
Isabella Zappa, Faculty Member/Pedagogical Coach, CHHS
Brienne Lafuente, Faculty Member, CET
Ian Gallagher, Faculty Member, PVC
Jamie Rooney, Faculty Member, CHHS
Jen Battista, Faculty Member, CET
Jen Rescigno, Faculty Member, PVC
Joe Pascarelli, Faculty Member, CET
Katherine Ernau, Faculty Member, PVC
Marc Molloy, Faculty Member, PVC
