West Morris to White House: Schools Chief Chosen to Help Craft National Tech Plan

While Mackey Pendergrast may be out of the office on Nov. 19, he’ll still be educating and helping craft curriculum, only it’ll be on a national scale.

The West Morris Regional High School District’s superintendent has been chosen by the United States Department of Education as just one of a dozen schools chiefs from around the country to participate in the first-ever National Connected Superintendents Summit. The initiative will be held at the White House, and the superintendents will help craft the 2015 National Education Technology Plan.

Furthering the success of the district that Pendergrast oversees, which received statewide and national acclaim in recent months thanks to jumps in various rankings, West Morris Regional was selected by the US Department of Education out of 800 school districts nationwide for demonstrating effective use of technology.

“The entire community was involved in creating our plan – students, teachers, and parents – and it is exciting to see the community’s vision playing a role in the national dialogue,” Pendergrast said in a statement.

The superintendents will be joined by 100 school leaders from across the country to share, collaborate, and help pen a national plan for the use of technology in the classroom.

President Barack Obama announced the ConnectED Initiative in 2013, with a goal of connecting 99-percent of students to next-generation connectivity within five years.

Pendergrast is currently under contract with the district until 2018.