Yesterday, was Leigh McGuigan's first day on the job. A former New York City school administrator, McGuigan has come to Cleveland to help nurture specialized schools intended to attract students to the District. Her office will supervise such current facilities as the four single-gender academies, along with schools that focus on architecture, design and science. She'll also be developing other new schools, tailored to student needs.
McGUIGAN: To have kids achieve --- especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds --- you have to give them a lot of support. They have to be in environments where teachers care about them. So, you have to be relentless about teacher quality, and you have to set-up systems at the school where teachers know the kids at the school and they know the families at the school. And you have to hold them to high expectations. And you have to hold the school leaders accountable for certain achievement levels.
DCB: Meaning the principals and teachers?
McGUIGAN: And me. I expect the community to hold me accountable for high achievement in these schools.
The Office of New and Innovative Schools was created with start-up funding from the Cleveland and Gund foundations.
