Archive: Around Town

On June 26, the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) Board of Education approved administrative appointments for the 2018-2019 school year.

Talcott has been appointed as deputy superintendent of the ICSD. The position of deputy has been vacant since the departure of Dr. Matt Landahl who currently serves as superintendent of the Beacon City School District. Talcott has served as principal of Northeast Elementary School since 2015. Prior to this, she worked at the district level, first as a teacher on special assignment with a focus on pre-K-5 mathematics and then as a master educator supporting pre-K-12 professional development, curriculum, and assessments. Talcott began her teaching career at Enfield Elementary School in 2007, where she worked as a first-grade teacher for five years.

Replacing Talcott at Northeast will be Liddy Coyle. Coyle currently serves as the district's chief academic officer, a role that will be dissolved. Prior to becoming chief academic officer, Coyle worked in various other roles in the ICSD, including teacher, academic intervention specialist, literacy staff developer, and master educator handling staff and curriculum development. She began her career as an elementary teacher in Virginia. Both Coyle and Talcott are Ithaca natives and attended schools in the ICSD.

David Brown, director of fine and performing arts, will be leaving the ICSD to assume the superintendent position at DeRuyter Central School District and will be replaced by Daphne Shululu. Shululu has worked in the ICSD since 2012, first as a kindergarten teacher and most recently as a master educator in early childhood. In addition to her teaching experience, Shululu also has an extensive background in theatre arts. From 1997 to 2007, Shululu served as theatre program director at Boys & Girls Harbor in Manhattan and, from 2007 to 2009, as coordinator for the Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film at Purchase College.

Taking over Shululu's responsibilities for early childhood education will be Laura Evans who has been appointed as pre-K-12 literacy officer. Evans began her teaching career at Enfield Elementary School before working for Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland for 25 years, most recently as supervisor of elementary integrated curriculum. Last year, Evans returned to the ICSD to assume the role of inclusion officer, helping to develop and implement practices aimed at creating more equitable access to education for all ICSD students.

Replacing Evans as inclusion officer will be Mary Grover, who has served as the principal of Caroline Elementary School since 2013. Grover began her career teaching English in Japanese public high schools. From there, she worked in Portland, Oregon for eight years as a student advocate and teacher. In 2010, Grover assumed a position as lecturer and teaching support specialist at Cornell University's Center for Teaching Excellence before becoming a graduation coach at Ithaca High School in 2012.

Karen Rachetta will replace Grover as the principal of Caroline Elementary School. Rachetta began her career in the ICSD in 1997 at Ithaca High School, where she served as a reading and English teacher, support teacher, and assistant principal. From 2007 to 2010, Rachetta was the associate principal of DeWitt Middle School. She then served as principal of Dryden High School for two years before returning to DeWitt as a chairperson in the special education department. In 2016, Rachetta reassumed the role of associate principal at DeWitt.

Replacing Rachetta will be Donna Lucy. Lucy is coming to the ICSD from the Cooperstown Central School District, where she has served as high school principal for the last two years. Lucy was also a founding principal and school design leader of Evolutions High School in Providence, Rhode Island, an innovative school that exemplifies personalized student learning experiences. Prior to this, Lucy worked for the New York City Department of Education for 12 years in various roles, including science teacher, site supervisor, and assistant principal.

These appointments come in the wake of several other administrative changes announced earlier this month. Keith Harrington, currently an associate principal at Ithaca High School, has been appointed as principal of Enfield Elementary School. Kristin Herman will be joining Harrington at Enfield as associate principal. Herman has taught in the ICSD since 2013. Carlan Gray and Corey Mitchell have been appointed as associate principals at Ithaca High School. Gray has served as a teacher, master educator, and department chair at Ithaca High School since 2005. Mr. Mitchell is coming to the ICSD from the North Syracuse Central School District, where he has been teaching for nearly 20 years. Lastly, Lauren Wright has been appointed as associate principal at Boynton Middle School. Wright joined the ICSD in 2013 as a high school social studies teacher and currently serves as a district-wide technology integration specialist.

ICSD Superintendent Luvelle Brown stated, "Our school district is able to realign the administrative team as the organization's needs evolve. With the recent appointments, we've tapped into internal and external talent to address vacancies and needs in the ICSD. Additionally, our team's thinking is now influencing the rest of New York State as multiple leaders have transitioned into superintendent roles in other communities."

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