School Board Decides

New Assistant Superintendent

By Tanjua Damon

The search is over for a new assistant superintendent. The Newtown Board of Education voted Tuesday night to hire Alice Stroup Jackson to fill the position Robert Kuklis is retiring from in August.

Ms Jackson is not new to Newtown. She was the special education department chair from 1985 to 1988, then went to be a research assistant for the department of psychology at Yale University under both Robert Sternberg, from 1988-1989, and Robert Weissberg, from 1989-1992.

She currently works as a curriculum department head for Wallingford Public Schools, where she chairs K-12 curriculum management teams in the areas of reading/language arts, science, social studies, and math. She also manages curriculum development and revision as well as supports teacher growth and curriculum implementation through modeling and coaching, helping parents and the community collaborate with curriculum changes.

Newtown Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed believes Ms Jackson will be an asset to the entire district.

“She really had essential experiences when she left [Newtown],” Dr Reed said. “What she has done in Wallingford is a lot of hands-on of what the assistant superintendent does in this district.”

There was “significant competition” for the position, according to Dr Reed. There were 37 applicants, of whom 15 received preliminary interviews and six applicants were asked back for another interview.

Dr Reed described Ms Jackson as an intellectual, experienced, warm, and enthusiastic, who will be able to benefit the district.

“The multitude of experience Alice has with working with students and teachers, with the full range over the last 10 or 11 years, is very unusual to find in the candidate pool,” Dr Reed said. “We wanted to find a person that will help with our efforts to improve. As you improve there are things that you know and as you get better it gets more challenging to accomplish that.”

Ms Jackson has taught in North Carolina, Maryland, and Connecticut, as well as published numerous articles with colleagues on various topics.

She received a bachelor of arts degree in 1967 and master’s degree in 1970 in special education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ms Jackson earned a sixth year in educational leadership in 1992 from Southern Connecticut State University. She is certified to be a special education teacher, K-12, and an intermediate administrator.