Due to enrollment growth and additional duties necessitated by the implementation of the Common Core curriculum and the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) teacher evaluation system, assistant principals have been hired for both Midland and Osborn elementary schools.

 

By Sarah Varney

 

Due to enrollment growth and additional duties necessitated by the implementation of the Common Core curriculum and the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) teacher evaluation system, assistant principals have been hired for both Midland and Osborn elementary schools.

 

The creation of the two positions is not unusual, said Dr. Frank Alvarez, Schools Superintendent. “The usual ratio for schools is one assistant principal position for every 500 students,” he said. Osborn currently has 603 students in grades K-5. Midland has 554 students. Both will be instrumental in helping to manage the APPR documentation flow, he added.

 

The District has hired Joanna Napolitano for the assistant principal position at Midland Elementary and Torrance Walley for the slot at Osborn.

 

Ms. Napolitano was most recently a fourth-grade teacher at the William B. Ward Elementary School in New Rochelle. A teacher since 2000, she holds a B.A. and an M.A. from George Washington University. She also holds an M.S. in Teaching from Fordham University. She has experience in organizing a balanced literacy program across writing, reading, spelling, and grammar.

 

Mr. Walley comes to Osborn from the Washingtonville Central School District, just south of Poughkeepsie. He taught third and fourth grade at Little Britain Elementary School and reading intervention at the middle school level at Washingtonville. He holds a B.S. degree in childhood education from SUNY Cortland and an M.A. from Columbia University’s Teachers College with a focus on literacy education. Mr. Walley served on an APPR planning committee during his tenure at Washingtonville.