by Jackie Pollack
Ms. Ellis has taken over Dr. Raina Kor’s position as the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Human Resources. Beginning on January sixth, Ms. Ellis has filled this role as an interim and will continue to work in the district until her contract expires in June.
Ms. Ellis came out of a year-and-a-half retirement to take on this position. Prior to her retirement, she worked as the director of curriculum and instruction in Mount Pleasant. She also has experience as the director of fine and performing arts in Harrison. She began her career as a classroom teacher and has always enjoyed working to benefit kids.
Coming out of retirement proved to be a great decision for Ms. Ellis because she missed talking about education and being in a school environment. She has been curious about the Rivertown districts for awhile and was particularly impressed with the Irvington school district. Wanting to be apart of it, Ms. Ellis was thrilled once she received the job.
Ms. Ellis says that, “everyone is wonderful and tremendously welcoming.”
Recently, the job for the Assistant Superintendent position was posted publicly. Within the next few weeks Ms. Ellis must decide whether she is going to stay on or not. Though her decision is confidential, she really emphasized how much she is loving the work in Irvington.
Over the past few weeks, Ms. Ellis has been popping into classrooms to better understand Irvington’s instructional programs and teachers. She wants to support and continue the good work which has already been implemented. To further her knowledge of the district, she planned “walkthroughs” to meet with the principals and get a sense of the four schools. It is important to her that she keeps the ball rolling but is also respectful of the fact that someone else may be taking her seat in a few months.
Currently, Ms. Ellis is working on the district’s budget and looking at teacher hiring for the upcoming school year. Ms. Ellis emphasized the significance of teacher openings and how she wants to put only the absolute best person possible into Irvington classrooms. Additionally, she believes that it is crucial to be mindful of how the community’s money is being spent. The district is hoping to continue promoting programs like STEM and Project Lead the Way to help amplify science.
Ms. Ellis is very pleased with the district as she was wrapping up her fourth week here. Although like everyone else, there are some days when she feels overwhelmed with stress and she just needs a break. She knows the best way to handle this though.
She smiled and said, “Every once in a while I like to be reminded of why I do this work, and so I go find a kid and sit on the floor and read to them. It’s just the best. It’s really the best when you’ve got piles of papers and your eyes are aching from computers and you go and hang out with a five year old. That’s why I’m doing this work. It’s for these kids.”
