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Update on Madison Park Technical/Vocational High School
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Interim Supt. McDonough is sharing this letter with the Madison Park Technical/Vocational High School community:
To the Madison Park Community,
This week has been tough. Each of you has done a great job. I have learned quite a bit from you and I am grateful for your dedication, your talent, and your desire to make Madison Park great.
I wanted you to know that I am accepting the resignation of Dr. Diane Ross Gary, Headmaster of Madison Park. A leadership change is the right thing to do at this time.
Dr. Gary has been fully dedicated to the success of Madison Park. However, transforming Madison Park must always be about much more than one person or one incident. It is about establishing a culture of excellence and distinction. This week we crossed an important threshold and have established a school schedule that is designed to serve all students, including English Language Learners and students with disabilities, in academic and technical programs that will propel them toward graduation and career success. Despite many efforts over several years, this is something the school has never truly had before. We do now, although getting here has not been easy and there is still more progress to be made.
What happens next? We will fully support the school team in the days ahead to make sure teaching and learning continue uninterrupted. Al Holland will take over leadership duties for the next few days. As you know, he is a former BPS headmaster who has been assisting the team at Madison Park. Very soon we will appoint an acting Headmaster to lead Madison Park. Then, we will work with the community to identify a great permanent Headmaster to ensure Madison Park’s vision is always in place.
I recognize that this is yet another transition for a school that has already experienced plenty of distractions. You deserve stability, but you have not had it. You have my promise we will not give up until we have made things right. Madison Park is a place we all believe in. Through it all, the dedication of our great teachers has been powerful. Students, too, have demonstrated their passion for learning and have shown an inspiring and unyielding faith in their own potential.
I know that many people enjoyed getting to know Dr. Gary and some believe she has not been well-supported by us in the past. Your voices matter to me and I have heard them. All week long, however, we have focused on the importance of moving beyond the status quo when it becomes clear a change is necessary to deliver something better for students and families. This is why we refused to let a flawed schedule go into effect and why we asked for your patience as we built something better.
We could have done a lot of things very differently this year as we worked to realize the full potential of Madison Park. This work is not yet finished, and as we move forward together we have the opportunity to shape our own path. Thank you for your commitment to this school. Thank you for working with us to point out what we can do better. Above all, thank you for being a part of Madison Park. I look forward to seeing you all on Monday.
John McDonough
Interim Superintendent
This week has been tough. Each of you has done a great job. I have learned quite a bit from you and I am grateful for your dedication, your talent, and your desire to make Madison Park great.
I wanted you to know that I am accepting the resignation of Dr. Diane Ross Gary, Headmaster of Madison Park. A leadership change is the right thing to do at this time.
Dr. Gary has been fully dedicated to the success of Madison Park. However, transforming Madison Park must always be about much more than one person or one incident. It is about establishing a culture of excellence and distinction. This week we crossed an important threshold and have established a school schedule that is designed to serve all students, including English Language Learners and students with disabilities, in academic and technical programs that will propel them toward graduation and career success. Despite many efforts over several years, this is something the school has never truly had before. We do now, although getting here has not been easy and there is still more progress to be made.
What happens next? We will fully support the school team in the days ahead to make sure teaching and learning continue uninterrupted. Al Holland will take over leadership duties for the next few days. As you know, he is a former BPS headmaster who has been assisting the team at Madison Park. Very soon we will appoint an acting Headmaster to lead Madison Park. Then, we will work with the community to identify a great permanent Headmaster to ensure Madison Park’s vision is always in place.
I recognize that this is yet another transition for a school that has already experienced plenty of distractions. You deserve stability, but you have not had it. You have my promise we will not give up until we have made things right. Madison Park is a place we all believe in. Through it all, the dedication of our great teachers has been powerful. Students, too, have demonstrated their passion for learning and have shown an inspiring and unyielding faith in their own potential.
I know that many people enjoyed getting to know Dr. Gary and some believe she has not been well-supported by us in the past. Your voices matter to me and I have heard them. All week long, however, we have focused on the importance of moving beyond the status quo when it becomes clear a change is necessary to deliver something better for students and families. This is why we refused to let a flawed schedule go into effect and why we asked for your patience as we built something better.
We could have done a lot of things very differently this year as we worked to realize the full potential of Madison Park. This work is not yet finished, and as we move forward together we have the opportunity to shape our own path. Thank you for your commitment to this school. Thank you for working with us to point out what we can do better. Above all, thank you for being a part of Madison Park. I look forward to seeing you all on Monday.
John McDonough
Interim Superintendent
Dr. Diane Ross Gary asked us to share this letter from her:
Dear Madison Park teachers, staff, students and families,
We have come a long way together this week. When we opened our doors on Monday, most students did not have workable schedules. Now, we have a sustainable core academic and technical structure that positions all students for success for the long-term. We did not do this alone and there is much work still to do. We are accomplishing these things thanks to very hard work by teachers, staff, parents, students, a dedicated BPS team and the entire Madison community. I want to acknowledge how grateful I am to each of you for your dedication.
Late Friday afternoon I met with Superintendent McDonough to discuss my own future at Madison Park. He and I agreed that it is time for me to move on. I believe this is in the school’s best interest. This change is effective immediately. I am confident that this is the right decision to make, and the timing is right for me and my family.
This is a great school with a bright future. I know that there are many in the community who will disagree with my decision, but I know in my heart that this is the right one for the school.
Dr. Diane Ross Gary
We have come a long way together this week. When we opened our doors on Monday, most students did not have workable schedules. Now, we have a sustainable core academic and technical structure that positions all students for success for the long-term. We did not do this alone and there is much work still to do. We are accomplishing these things thanks to very hard work by teachers, staff, parents, students, a dedicated BPS team and the entire Madison community. I want to acknowledge how grateful I am to each of you for your dedication.
Late Friday afternoon I met with Superintendent McDonough to discuss my own future at Madison Park. He and I agreed that it is time for me to move on. I believe this is in the school’s best interest. This change is effective immediately. I am confident that this is the right decision to make, and the timing is right for me and my family.
This is a great school with a bright future. I know that there are many in the community who will disagree with my decision, but I know in my heart that this is the right one for the school.
Dr. Diane Ross Gary
Statement from BPS spokesperson Lee McGuire on certification status:
Interim Superintendent McDonough scheduled a meeting with Dr. Gary for late Friday afternoon. As he was preparing for that meeting we checked on Dr. Gary's certification status and learned that although she had applied for a Headmaster certification in August, 2013 the required paperwork and next steps to support that application were never submitted. It is the responsibility of the educator to follow up with the Department of Education on the status of their certification application. However, we should have followed up much sooner to confirm she had completed the process. It’s what we do for our teachers and we certainly should have done it in this case as well. We are taking steps right now to make sure that does not happen in the future.
Interim Superintendent McDonough scheduled a meeting with Dr. Gary for late Friday afternoon. As he was preparing for that meeting we checked on Dr. Gary's certification status and learned that although she had applied for a Headmaster certification in August, 2013 the required paperwork and next steps to support that application were never submitted. It is the responsibility of the educator to follow up with the Department of Education on the status of their certification application. However, we should have followed up much sooner to confirm she had completed the process. It’s what we do for our teachers and we certainly should have done it in this case as well. We are taking steps right now to make sure that does not happen in the future.