I've been asked a couple of times what I think of the appointment last week so here goes.
In surely the most significant action the board takes (fortunately for us, a not-too-frequent action), the board chose Dr. Thomas Forcella of Guilford, CT as the next superintendent. He certainly hit all the right points in his introduction and initial interviews over the first day -- encourages community involvement, seeks strong growth by every child, has demonstrated high achievement with a diverse student body. I am optimistic that we have found a proven leader to bring creative solutions to our schools. I even heard him utter the word "progressive" in a radio interview. Either he is extraodinarly savvy about saying all the right things or he is truly a good fit for the culture in our district and believes in the same goals we share. Probably a combination of those two, but that's not a bad thing either.
One reason to be cautious in our optimism: through a friend of a friend of a friend, I received input from someone up in Guilford whose "kids are bright, well-adjusted, respectful and polite" that they are not being adequately challenged in class and "falling through the cracks". Given how I've seen this story before in CHCCS, that is an area worth paying attention to. The overall impression was very positive -- Dr. Forcella took an extremely average district to top-10 status in Connecticut in his 5 years there.
I continue to be cautiously optimistic, leaning towards optimistic as much as I can.
"I am excited about the opportunity to continue the tradition of excellence that has become the norm for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and to provide the leadership required to advance student achievement to even higher levels," Dr. Forcella said.
Amen.
Issues:
