I believe in infusing hope. Teachers and educators are the promise of kids in ever increasing ways. I believe in helping students and teachers to dream big and create paths to accomplishment. Our efforts today powerfully impact the success of our children in the future. I believe we must be child-centered, instruction-driven, and relationship-focused.  Our work as educators necessitates an urgency that actually makes an impact.  Parents and caregivers are our partner in this journey.  A district with schools focused on children at its center provide a foundation for learning.

I believe in growing relationships.  Without positive relationships -- both between leaders and teachers and teachers and students -- we cannot expect to reach our full potential as a school. Students, families, staff and community members share the responsibility for student achievement.

I believe in celebrating our differences as a unifying strength. Our community thrives when different people unite in partnership and problem-solving.

I believe in taking calibrated risks.  Success is not permanent; failure is not fatal.  I believe in targeting academic objectives, programs, and strategies that are few in number and high in impact.  Student achievement and growth are driven by a highly-effective and respected staff working as a team.  I believe in emphasizing data-driven, research-supported, empirically-validated initiatives.  We must all hold ourselves accountable and adhere to program fidelity, tight lesson focus, time on task, learning through doing, collaborative and independent work, and differentiated instruction.  I believe we must strive to do a few things masterfully rather than many things satisfactorily.  We must help our students know and monitor their own growth toward meeting learning and personal growth objectives.

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I believe that community partnerships provide vital resources and opportunities for students and families.  All students must have equitable access to learning opportunities, technology and environments that support them in reaching their full potential.

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And finally, the world we live in necessitates a new commitment to social-emotional learning and mentorship programs for students.  We must walk along side our students and monitor their well-being as well as offer instruction around social-emotional skills.  Caring for the whole child comes before any academic instruction can take place.