Team New Milford: Masters of the (Educational) Universe

There is nothing 'old school' about Superintendent Michael Polizzi and his core team of administrators: Director of Curriculum, Danielle Shanley; Business Administrator, Michael Sawicz; and Director of Special Services, Ray Dorso; not to mention the principals at the helm of each school whose encouraged innovation is changing the dynamics of how children learn.

"There is synergy with this team of people," Polizzi commented as he looked around the table. "All the right people came together at the same time."  

In explaining how he has managed to make such rapid changes in the New Milford School system in the two years since his appointment, Polizzi says, "Changes have to be rapid and radical; otherwise, why make the changes at all?" 

And rapid and radical they have been. 

With the establishment of the High School Academies program, the Junior Academy at the middle school, Inner Bridge Crossing that provides in-district services for children on the autistic spectrum, the addition of 30 new courses between the middle school and high school, implementing student technology as learning devices, and teacher-driven Professional Learning Communities, Polizzi and his team are focused on changing the face of education to reflect the real world that these students will be entering upon graduation.

Polizzi feels strongly that in order to accelerate such bold changes there must be a community that's receptive and open to new ideas. He believes that New Milford offers an opportunity to make real changes because the community is heavily vested in the schools. "You can respond to the needs of the students by bringing the community in and making them a partner in the success of the children," he said.

Polizzi adds that having a board that is open to new ideas and shares your vision is of equal importance. 

And share his vision they do. New Milford's Board of Education has consistently and unanimously supported every one of Polizzi's initiatives, a remarkable achievement by any one's standards. Even in this sluggish economy while other school districts continue to make drastic cuts, New Milford's board has hired 28 new teachers (almost all with advanced degrees), created three academies and two special education programs.

In recognition for their dynamic vision, the board has been awarded Master Board Status by the New Jersey School Boards Association. The Master Board Certification award recognizes high performing boards that focus on student achievement.

According to the New Jersey School Boards Association, in order for a board to earn the Master Board Certification, the board and its superintendent must undergo a minimum of 10 additional hours of training. The board must also conduct a self evaluation, and the district must have met at least 80 percent of the indicators in the Governance section of its most recent New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC) review, which is the state’s system for monitoring school district effectiveness.

Polizzi, whose career began as a teacher at Bergen Tech High School, was a member of the original twelve teachers who developed the concepts that became the Bergen Academies before helping to lead the transition of the Teterboro campus. Prior to being hired by New Milford he was the assistant superintendent and director of innovative programs and strategic partnerships for Englewood Public Schools, which includes the Academies @ Englewood.

Polizzi's mission is the same mission used in developing Bergen Academies--learning with a focus on student interests. If the students are interested in what they're learning, the natural result will be an increase in student achievement.

How did Polizzi manage to get the entire staff of teachers and administrators on board with these changes? By rebuilding the trust between the administration and teachers.

The most effective way to build and maintain a high level of trust is to be an "active listener and empower the ideas of the people around you." 

"There's a general feeling of disenfranchisement among teachers because they feel they have no input in the educational system," he said. "Our goal is to emerge as a premier educational system in the county, state, and nation." Polizzi believes that you can't achieve that goal without empowering the front-line teachers. 

Enter Professional Learning Communities (PLC). PLC's consist of groups of educators committed to working collaboratively to research a subject and develop a class or program targeted towards both the students and the teachers area of interest. The underlying assumption of PLC's is that continuous "embedded" learning for teachers is the key to improved learning for students. Polizzi says that PLC's are a way to respect the voices of "our experts, the teachers." 

Just as Polizzi feels it is necessary to empower teachers to find meaning in what they are teaching, he added, "We want the students to make meaning of what they're learning and empower their choices." 

Polizzi and Sawicz host the "Superintendent's Council" at the middle school and high school giving the students an opportunity to be heard. 

When the high school students requested that they be allowed to bring their own laptops to school, Polizzi brought it before the board.  

Polizzi and the board recognize that the student's technology is not an optional gadget; they are necessary resources. "We're responding naturally to the way these students do their work and we understand that if we want to create strong adults we have to let them be adults."

One of the most radical changes to the high school was the establishment of the The Academies @ NMHS. The academy programs include: Arts and Letters, Global Leadership, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Remarkably, it took Polizzi and his team only four months to design and implement the Academies @ New Milford programs.

Shanley said, "Our goal is to expose the students to real life experiences and provide authentic relationships for them." This is done primarily through partnerships, the cornerstone of the academies program. 

"Partnerships with the school district is a cornerstone of my leadership," Polizzi said. Partners such as the BergenPac, FDU, and St. Thomas Aquinas offer students access to people and places they might not otherwise have. Polizzi and Shanley believe that exposure empowers the students and strengthens their commitment to achieving the goals they have set for their future.

Another important accomplishment is the establishment of the New Bridge Inner Crossing School housed in the Berkley School and servicing children on the autistic spectrum from pre-K through second grade. There is also the Knight program which is an alternative program that begins its day at 3 p.m. and services general education, special education and at-risk high school aged students.  

Dorso explained that having an in-district program for children on the spectrum and at-risk teens not only allows students to be schooled with their peers in their own community, but the town saves the costly tuition paid to other private and out-of-town programs. Furthermore, New Milford can now include children from other districts in these programs and receive tuition from those districts. "So not only is the district saving money by not having to send students out of district," Dorso explained, "but we have the potential to make money for the district, as well." 

It's clear that Polizzi and his team are not interested in having New Milford schools reach bench marks for success, they want New Milford schools to be those benchmarks for other school systems. 

Polizzi said "Team New Milford" looks for creative thinkers; people who share their vision for transforming the experience of education in New Milford. They want to take the existing paradigms of education, paradigms created over a century ago, and design an effective learning experience that will take students into the global forum of the 21st Century.

Perhaps Shanley said it best, "I'm doing more here because I'm allowed. You can't grow unless someone gives you the opportunity." And if there's one thing that Team New Milford doesn't lack, it's opportunity.