School's Back in Session

Changes on the way for this year and beyond

by Jordan Schwartz

New Clifton Schools Superintendent Richard Tardalo has held the position for just two months and already changes are being seen in the district.

Five buildings have new principals this year, including four that were hired in-house.

“It doesn’t hurt to let people know that you’re looking inside,” said Tardalo, who added that the district has hired from outside Clifton as well. “It’s good to know that you can climb the ladder in town.”

Jimmie Warren, who has been principal at Christopher Columbus Middle School since 2004, takes over for Tardalo as the top administrator at Clifton High School. Meanwhile, Mark Tietjen (pictured above) replaces Warren at CCMS. At the elementary level, former Little Falls principal Jennifer Montesano is the new leader at School 15, pushing David Montroni to School 4 and Luca Puzzo to School 1. Puzzo takes over for Leslie Mozulay, who was let go after just one year at the Park Slope building.

Tietjen may have the toughest job of all as CCMS attempts to rebound after failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards last year.

Tardalo said a Readers/Writers Workshop will be put in place at the middle school level in the fall of 2009 in an effort to improve test scores.

But double periods are needed to effectively implement the program and so class scheduling with be altered so that children will have enough time to read, write and edit with their peers.

“The philosophy is that the student is an active learner and the teacher is the facilitator,” said the superintendent. Another way in which Tardalo hopes to improve student performance is through technology.

By the spring, the school chief would like parents of students in sixth to twelfth grade to be able to access their child’s report card online.

Further down the road, the district may also provide internet access to homework and attendance data, and possibly even grade books if teachers okay the proposal in their next contract, which will be negotiated next summer.

It’s all part of the new superintendent’s five-year strategic plan that he will present in the middle of this school year.

“The long range goal is to get as much information as possible out to parents,” said Tardalo. “The more information that parents have, the more support we’ll get from them.”

Support often means money and taxpayers might have to shell out some more cash with the pending requirement to create a pre-school program in the district.

The state is initially supposed to provide funding but it could become another unfunded mandate.

“We’re going to have a pilot program of 80 to 100 students in 2009, but eventually we will have all students in pre-school,” said the superintendent, who added that additions on some schools may be needed in a few years in order to accommodate the younger kids.

This follows the recent implementation of full-day kindergarten, which has already caused more of a space crunch at the elementary schools.

Last year, kindergartners at Schools 3, 13 and 14 were forced to take classes at the Boys & Girls Club because it was said that there wasn’t enough space to house the program at the elementary buildings.

However, Tardalo said room has been found so that all kindergartners will be located in their own elementary schools this year.