Princeton Superintendent's 2020 Resolution: Build Relationships

PRINCETON, NJ — 2020 is right around the corner and with the new year and new decade about to start many government officials are looking ahead. Princeton Schools Superintendent Steve Cochrane's 2020 New Year resolution is to build relationships.

"Schools are fundamentally about relationships, and in the New Year we will be building on those relationships in three important areas.

1. Relationships with students and families - We are continuing our efforts in the area of equity, with a focus on culturally responsive teaching, restorative practices, and school-wide enrichment. As I recently shared in an email to our staff, equity is not a buzz word or a theme for a year. Equity is not an add-on to the work we are already doing as educators. No, equity IS our work. It is the reason we became teachers. As Cornelius Minor powerfully states in his recent book, 'We Got This.' My job as a teacher is not to teach the curriculum or even just to teach students; it is to seek to understand my kids as completely as possible so that I can purposefully bend the curriculum to meet them. Understanding our students as learners in the classroom and as individuals beyond the classroom and then 'bending the curriculum to meet them' – that is the art, the science, and the essence of culturally responsive teaching. And that is how we will ultimately achieve our vision of ensuring that every child in the Princeton Public Schools attains their highest potential. According to the International Institute of Restorative Practices, 'restorative practices is a set of strategies designed to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities.' Students learn better when they feel connected to their classmates and teachers. Moreover, when transgressions occur, the focus of restorative justice is on restoring relationships and repairing the harm rather than strictly on punishment. We have been working with consultants for the last year on developing our understanding and implementation of restorative practices. The other equity-related program we are implementing at the K-8 level is school-wide enrichment. The goal here is to know every child as a learner and to provide multiple opportunities in the classroom and beyond to inspire and enhance their interests and abilities. The program is new this year, and we are providing ongoing training for our staff.
2. Relationships with staff - In November, building on our already strong internal relationships, the Princeton Public Schools joined 24 other New Jersey districts as part of the Collaborative School Leadership Initiative sponsored by Rutgers University. Board members, administrators, teachers and support staff came together at the Rutgers Labor and Management Center for two days of training on the development of school and district leadership teams. In the coming year, we look forward to continuing this work and bringing our collective wisdom to bear on solving the large and small challenges we face in our schools.
3. Relationships with our community - Members of our Board and administrative team meet regularly with our community partners and with the leadership of our town. We have also actively engaged a number of community experts to help us understand the anticipated growth in our student enrollment in the coming years. In 2020, we look forward to engaging the full community in planning for that growth. With the assistance of the planning firm Milone & MacBroom, our goal is to engage all residents of our diverse community in developing a data-based, financially-viable and educationally sound master plan to address equity, enrollment growth and aging facilities. The first community forum to which all are invited will be held on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 9 a.m. in the cafeteria at Princeton High School. The forum will begin with Milone and MacBroom sharing their findings based on their review of our demographic projections, facilities, and educational programming. They will then engage participants in activities to help define community goals and priorities. The forum in January will be the first of several to be held in the New Year. We will also engage the community through surveys, focus groups, and emails, all designed to produce a series of appropriately vetted recommendations by June of 2020.

What do you think of Cochrane's resolution? Do you think there are other matters our local officials should be prioritizing instead? Comment below and share your thoughts!

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