New Englewood Cliffs Super Brings Entrepreneurial Spirit to Role

Robert Kravitz has a book coming out in about two weeks. It may take a little longer than that for him to assume his duties as Superintendent of the Englewood Cliffs K-8 school district.

Kravitz, a resident of Bergenfield who made the transition to education after years as a successful businessman, has been with the Fort Lee school district for seven years—the past four as principal of Fort Lee School No. 3, one of the district’s four elementary schools.

In June, Kravitz, who will replace Dominic Mucci in Englewood Cliffs, was part of an administrative shakeup in Fort Lee in which he was reassigned to Lewis F. Cole Middle School.

After his appointment in early August to the post in Englewood Cliffs, he resigned from the position, but due to contractual obligations, he will continue to serve in the role until Oct. 5 or until Fort Lee finds a replacement, whichever comes first, Kravitz told Patch.

As a first-time superintendent, Kravitz said he would approach the transition much as he did when he made the move from business to education.

“I’ve had some success in business, I’ve had some success being a principal and I hope to keep that success going as a superintendent,” Kravitz said, noting that he’ll be leading a district that’s similar in size to the school he was working at in Fort Lee—the Englewood Cliffs district has about 450 children in the entire district, compared to about 575 at School No. 3 at the end of the last school year.

Those successes in education include his school being named one of 10 New Jersey schools recognized by the state Board of Education in 2011 for achieving the prestigious federal "Blue Ribbon" status for vastly improving student achievement.

Kravitz also pointed out that School No. 3 had “the second or third lowest cost per pupil in the state with the highest test results” in 2012.

“We cut the budget without hurting teachers, basically empowering teachers by saying to them, ‘what do you really need to buy? And we’ll buy it for you,’” he said. “Or ‘here’s your allotment of what you should spend, and you go out and figure out where you can get the best deal.’”

Still, Kravitz said, a learning curve is inherent in taking on any new job, but that he enjoys learning.

“I’m an entrepreneur,” he said. “I love taking on challenges, and I love rising to the occasion and solving things; I’m a solver. I look at solutions, and sometimes they’re bizarre solutions, but they actually work.”

Kravitz has already started, along with the Englewood Cliffs school board, taking a look at some of the challenges his new district is likely to face, both in the short- and long-term.

“We have already come up with some ideas; we’re conceptualizing, brainstorming,” Kravitz said. “But for the first several months, you just listen and learn.”

As a school administrator, Kravitz is guided by what he calls his “triangle theory” of education in which administrators—whether principals or superintendents—become a key part of the traditional parent-teacher relationship.

“Envision a triangle where every corner is either a parent, teacher or administrator with the child in the center of that triangle,” Kravitz explained of the theory. “If the same amount of pressure is put on every angle, that triangle becomes an arrowhead where the child points straight up for success; that’s what we’re aiming for every day.”

He said parents and students in Englewood Cliffs can expect a “very active superintendent” when he takes over, and one who interacts with the children on a daily basis. He said his goal is to know every child’s name, something he was able to achieve at his school in Fort Lee.

“I want to be part of their lives,” Kravitz said. “I’m an enthusiastic guy who’s really looking to move forward, and I’m looking for a long-term commitment in Englewood Cliffs to take a district that’s already excellent and make it even better.”

He added, “You can never stop fighting for success.”

Kravitz, who has a three-year contract in the district at an annual salary of $135,000, according to a NorthJersey.com report, is also looking forward to the release of his book, A Blue Ribbon Story: An Entrepreneur’s Success in Education, which he said should be available on Amazon by Sept. 7 and which he called “easy, very calm reading.”

Below is Amazon’s description of Kravitz’ new book:

Using personal and professional experiences, a principal explains how he has helped his school attain the prestigious designation of a National Blue Ribbon School. Readers will discover ideas rooted in the business world that can be successfully applied to education. The book is an authority on the topic because of the author’s experiences and achievements in business and education.