Curriculum Vitae

Profile

Proven change agent, learning leader, and ideator.

Education

M.A. Education, St. Peter’s College, Jersey City, New Jersey.

B.A. Anthropology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.

Professional Experience

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Professional Development

July 2019-Present

Rockaway Township School District

  • Effectively work with the Superintendent to develop and monitor district initiatives and regulations related to student growth and achievement
  • Assist and motivate administration and faculty in achieving personal, professional, and district goals
  • Regularly assess the state of the district’s curriculum program, materials, and instructional technology and develop curriculum cycles for continuous renewal
  • Work successfully with the superintendent and stakeholders to build support for the district’s vision, mission, and long-range priorities

Director of Curriculum and Professional Development

October 2013-June 2019

Sussex-Wantage Regional School District

  • Oversee and manage professional learning for certificated and non-certificated staff
  • Monitor the implementation of all district curriculum
  • Assess student learning needs using multiple data points
  • Transform classrooms to fit the needs of today’s learners through the introduction of modern technology, content knowledge, and the pedagogy that best matches it

Consultant, Authentic Education

July 2011-Present

  • Led sessions with educators from around the world for Grant Wiggins’ group in Understanding by Design, Schooling by Design, and Instructional design.  
  • Created curricular units for Authentic Education for use in school districts worldwide.
  • Worked  on projects in the following schools:
    • Mount Vernon Presbyterian School, Atlanta, GA
    • Coordinated School Districts of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
    • Ellenville Central Schools, Ellenville, NY
    • St. George’s School, Spokane, WA
    • The Athenian School, Danville, CA
    • Brevard County Public Schools, Brevard, FL

Adjunct Professor of Education

May 2015-Present

Saint Peter’s University

  • ED502: Psychological Foundations of Education: This course examines the psychological underpinnings of learning and the effect on the history of education that these theories have had.

Adjunct Professor of Education

May 2012-Present

College of St. Elizabeth

  • ED681: Field Experience in Educational Technology: This course examines instructional technology that is used for research, curriculum planning and implementation of instruction and also the impact of technology on instructional design.

Trustee for New Jersey Educational Computing Cooperative (njecc.org)

September 2011-Present

  • Collaborate with the Board of Trustees to provide high-quality professional development to our member schools consisting of over 100 public and private schools from around the state.
  • Organize and facilitate monthly meetings at Montclair State University with industry-leading speakers and change-makers.

Assist in the organization and execution of the NJECC Annual Conference held in January, attended by over 400 teachers and school leaders from the tri-state area.

Director of Instructional Services

September 2011-October 2013

Caldwell/West Caldwell Public Schools

  • Responsible for comprehensive and systematic implementation of Professional Development programs for the entire school community.
  • Oversaw the evaluation, revision, and implementation of all district curricula, PK-12.
  • Supervised the district’s instructional technology education program and increase the availability of technology for students.
  • Re-shaped the philosophy of curriculum development within the district to reflect a focus on Understanding by Design and principles of Universal Design for Learning.
  • Oversaw personnel operations within the district, including the recruitment, hiring, and development of all certificated and non-certificated staff.

Supervisor of Humanities

July 2010-September 2011

Verona Public Schools

  • Created meaningful and sustained learning opportunities centered on emerging technologies for teachers independent of content area specialty
  • Supervised and lead the Social Studies, Language Arts, and World Languages Departments for a high-performing K-12 district
  • Oversaw implementation of standards-based curriculum in all three subject areas
  • Continually push for meaningful change at both the school and district level

Director of Curriculum, Humanities

December 2007-June 2010

Sparta Township Public Schools

  • Implemented curriculum initiatives in the English/Language Arts, Social Studies, World Language, and Visual and Performing Arts Departments.
  • Coordinated Staff development in Humanities across K-12 District
  • Supported Staff in individual professional growth through the clinical observation model
  • Use of the Understanding by Design Framework to
    • Re-model the PK-5 Language Arts Curriculum
    • Remodel the Visual and Performing Arts Curriculum, PK-12, 2008-2009
    • Create and added four electives to the High School Social Studies Curriculum
    • Creation of Connections, a Language Arts class designed to foster writing as thinking
  • Presentations at various educational conferences
  • Movement of course content for middle and high school classes into Moodle, an online course management system, enabling students continuous access to curricular materials.

Secondary Education Technology Coordinator

June 2006-November 2007

Sparta Township Public Schools

  • Supported a student population of 2400 and a teaching staff of over 200 and aided them in embedding technology into their learning and lesson design.
  • Introduced processes of collaborative writing, planning, and learning to students and faculty through the use of Google Applications, and various other web authoring tools.
  • Set up and managed video conferences between authors and historians for our students.
  • Managed Genesis Information System for two schools
  • Re-shaped the philosophy of professional development classes on a district-level through a focus on pedagogy rather than tools.

Teacher of Social Studies

September 2004-June 2006

Sparta Middle School, Sparta, New Jersey

  • Responsible for the implementation of a civics-based curriculum aimed at preparing students to become responsible members of a democratic society.
  • Developed units of study that utilize various types of media and technology that enable the students to find inventive ways to assess primary source material.
  • Aided in the district revision of the 8th-grade curriculum
  • Focused on visual learning strategies

Freelance Writer

February 2005-Present

  • Education writer at Chalkdust101 since 2007; over 700 articles pertaining to educational change, educational technology, leadership and curriculum design.
  • Monthly columnist at Technology and Learning Magazine’s Website.
  • Contributor to Edsocialmedia
  • Developed and reported on community news and human-interest stories in the New York-New Jersey area.

Teacher of World History and English

September 2002-June 2004

Eric S. Smith Middle School, Ramsey, New Jersey

  • Developed interdisciplinary units using case studies to focus student development on essential concepts of democracy and society.
  • Utilized the Newark Museum lending collections to augment research into geographic areas and cultural groups.
  • Worked with U.S. Campaign for Democracy in Burma to raise student awareness through a series of panel discussions and guest speakers from Burma’s National League for Democracy.

Middle School Language Arts and Literature Instructor

January 2001-June 2002

Immaculate Conception Regional School, Franklin, New Jersey

  • Responsible for creating a writing intensive Language Arts and Literature Curriculum for grades six through eight.
  • Instituted a school-wide program of holistic scoring in which I created rubrics for several types of writing for grades one through eight.
  • Faculty representative for Forensic Public Speaking League, Academic Team, Poetry Anthology, Literary Anthology, and Track and Field.

Field Archaeologist

January 2000-January 2001

TetraTech, Inc., Fairfax, Virginia

  • Performed site mitigation on Phase I, II, and III archeological sites.
  • Utilized skills such as mapping, orienteering, GPS, classification of historic and prehistoric artifacts.

Editorial Associate

January 1999-January 2000

Doubleday Select, New York, New York

  • Managed a bi-monthly list of titles offered to club members.
  • Wrote and proofread catalog copy.
  • Researched topics ranging from natural sciences to computer programming.
  • Monthly content contributor to booksonline.com