Rita

           Ms. Rita is a leader with social justice in mind.  I think she will foster a curriculum that all students will access and benefit from it.  Ms. Rita will work with all students at the David School.
          She will bring her experiences from Wilson Middle School to David School.  She learned how to work with a multicultural diverse population and with economically disadvantage students.  She was aware of their need; as a principal she knew that students and their family wanted to be integrated as part of the educational community too.

Ms. Rita will need to learn about the culture of the Appalachian hills of Floyd Country in eastern Kentucky.  The students in this region have a variety of situations.  She is a leader with previous experience in the educational system or public school.  Now, she will be working with students that were not able to succeed in the public school system. These students are below grade level in content areas. A positive note is that Ms. Rita as a classroom teacher in the Basic Skills class was able to work with students with academic challenges.  She understands the importance of making education relevant to the students and thinks outside of the box in order to teach students with a variety of necessities.  Also, she knows that communication with students is crucial to develop a full understanding of their background, where they are coming from and what is their current situation.  Good communication and empathy are traits that will support Ms. Rita as a leader in David School.  She will be able to connect with students and families as she visits the students’ homes and gather vital information from the students’ families.

She will be able to gather resources to build a strong Art program in the David School. David School is not affiliated with a District many of their funds are by grants, sponsors, and other kind of funding.  I think this is an element that she could develop further by using what the school already has through the music teacher, and expanded with other options such as drama, art and music.  She can use the culture of the Appalachian as a springboard: their songs, their history can be integrated in the program.  David School wants to make education relevant and related to the real life of the students.  Students have talents that could be used as a platform to develop other contents areas and build the community where they come from.  Cross curriculum contents areas can happen through an Art Program too.  She will be enhanced David School with her leadership.