August 1, 2008

Dear Plainfield Community:

I remain extremely honored and humbled to be in a position of service to the district, community, families, educators, staff, and most important, students of Plainfield Public Schools. The work during the course of my first thirty days as your Superintendent have revealed not so much the challenges that lay before us as a school district, but more important, the tremendous possibilities that we have to provide our students optimal opportunities for school and life-long success.

I am encouraged by the numerous stakeholder groups with whom I have had an opportunity to engage. I have collaborated with members of the Board during the Board Retreat; met with representatives of PEA and PASA during face-to-face meetings; sat with individual principals and vice-principals; held meetings and interviews with

administrators; discussed partnerships and collective improvement efforts with parent groups, community leaders, and government officials; met with the County Superintendent and State Officials in Trenton; interacted with students at each school level; and yes, participated in the enjoyable Fourth of July parade in which I was able to meet and greet community members from diverse experiences, interests, and backgrounds.

The Superintendent’s Leadership Retreat, a three-day working meeting involving district and school administrators, provided an opportunity to not only meet and engage district and school leadership, but to begin the critical work of developing district goals, objectives, and metrics for accountability, performance, progress, and achievement. The District Strategic Plan framework was presented to the Board at its Retreat. However, I am looking forward to presenting this to the greater community at the Board Business Meeting of August 12 and to subsequent Superintendent Town Hall Meetings to be held, beginning August 29.

The significance of a strategic plan was again revealed to me while sitting at home watching a war movie in which the soldiers on the battlefield roamed with no sense of direction, purpose, or “end in mind.” In this particular war, the goals and objectives, not to mention the purpose of the war, were unclear, making the reality of a “win” elusive and dubious at best. The problem with the soldiers not having a clear sense of direction and purpose was in the fact that their aimless “roaming” made them increasingly vulnerable to falling victim to the enemy, as well as to a sense of despair and hopelessness, mainly because they had little if any victories to celebrate and saw no “end in sight.”

Plainfield Public Schools is currently at war for the education, futures, and yes, lives of our children. The enemy, I have learned, has been apathy, instability, cynicism, complacency, mediocrity, and despair. As the stakes are too high, we can ill afford to “roam aimlessly” as a district devoid of measurable or tangible purpose or sense of direction---stumbling and falling victim to noise and nonsense and not stepping up and rising to an agenda aimed at improving the lives and learning of our children. In order to quiet the “noise” around those things that will not help a child to read, solve mathematical equations, excel in the arts or in sports, or become a better human being, the District Strategic Plan will serve as a “dashboard” to keep our eyes on the road and hearts and minds traveling on a “tangible and measurable” journey toward excellence. It is a journey, not a destination!

In closing, I remain excitingly optimistic and hopeful about the work and opportunities that are before us. I am even more excited about the arrival of our teachers and students in September, for the exchange between the two of them is where the core of the educational process rests.

Lead. Teach. Learn. Grow. Listen. Inspire. Build. Support. Innovate. Live. Love.

Plainfield Public Schools…..Yes, we will!

Educationally I remain,

Steve Gallon III, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools