School Profiles: Meet Nancy Duclos, Assistant Supt. Curriculum and Instruction

Name: Nancy Duclos

Position: Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction

The role of this office falls into the areas of curriculum support, teacher support and grants.

Duclos said her position is multi-faceted, and she manages curriculum writing across the district including approval of Home School Plans. She also oversees ESL and ELL and instructional accommodations. "It all gets funneled back to my office," she explained.

It is her responsibility to facilitate and create professional development for teachers and to work with the program advisors at the high school. Due to cutbacks, Duclos also serves as the Fine Arts Program Advisor.

Securement of grants is critical to the District, and Duclos will be collaborating with Grant Writer Lisa Glickstein. This includes Federal Entitlement grants, Title I and Title II.

Professional Background

Duclos said she is currently working on her dissertation for her PhD in Educational Leadership at Lesley University. She holds a Masters Degree in Curriculum Development at UMass/Lowell and a BS in Math from Worcester State College.

With over 30 years in the education field, Duclos taught high school and middle school Math and was the Math Development Specialist in Newburyport. She served as the K-12 Curriculum Director in Marblehead, and the K-6 Math/Science Curriculum Director in the Pentucket Regional District.

Andover's Appeal

“Andover is a strong district with a history of being on the cutting edge, and I wanted to be part of the process," she explained.

Challenges of the Position

"The major challenge," she said, "is making sure the work teachers do is both meaningful for them and has an strong impact on student achievements.”

Goals

Overall, Duclos said she hopes to create a system where "teachers can work in learning communities across the district to create new learning environments."

She believes we have to shift the way we deliver education, because the needs are different today than 5 or 10 years ago.

Duclos explained that technology is constantly evolving, and kids need to learn how to keep up with the changes. "I want to help teachers to figure that out, and how that can happen in classroom."

But first, Duclos said she needs to gather information and will be looking for teacher input about structures already in place, and how they need to be tweaked or the focus shifted.

"I am a person who honors old practices, and I am not going to change everything," she explained. She will also encourage and support teachers who want to present new ideas.

Relating Background to Accomplishment of Goals

"I am a creative thinker in the classroom, and I was one of first teachers to use graphing calculators at the middle school in Newburyport. Duclos also said she is a collaborator when working with others.

Referring to her multi-faceted role, she explained she enjoys diversity in her positions because "it never gets boring."

Personal Background

Duclos lives in Newburyport and said she loves to paint and do gardening. Her husband is a shoe designer. They have 3 grown children and 1 grandson who live in Portland, San Francisco and New York City.