MaryEllen Elia of Hillsborough County Public Schools Leads Districtwide Reform
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 MaryEllen Elia |
MaryEllen Elia was appointed Hillsborough County Public Schools superintendent in 2005. She is a transformational leader with a true sense of urgency, who has brought districtwide reform that has energized teachers, administrators and students through the College Board’s EXCELerator™ model.
A former AP® European History teacher, Elia values teachers. One of her primary goals is to acknowledge the importance of teachers in education.
“I always think of myself as a teacher,” she says. “Those are some of the best years of my career.”
Elia has spent almost 40 years as an educator, holding a number of key positions during that time. In 2007, she was named Florida’s Superintendent of the Year by the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations. That same year, she instituted the EXCELerator reform model in several Hillsborough County public schools. Then in 2008, EXCELerator was expanded into all middle and high schools in Hillsborough County.
Elia says that as an AP teacher she came to realize that the level of rigor in AP courses was essential for high school students to ensure their future success. With the backing of the school board, she brought the EXCELerator model to the district because of the support it provides students and teachers alike. With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and a number of other sources, Elia has increased the focus in Hillsborough’s middle and high schools on rigorous course work and given students the assistance they need to succeed.
“I think that it is important for us as a nation to understand and support those who teach the children of this country,” Elia says. “If we are going to be as successful a nation as we have been in the past, we have to refocus the efforts in our classrooms every day. And that’s what I intend to do.”
A Note from Southern Region VP Jenny Krugman
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| VP Jenny Krugman |
Our College Board Forum, held this past October in New York, will be followed in February with a gathering that will continue the focus on your institutions’ successes. The 2010 Southern Regional Forum will be held Feb. 18–19 at the Renaissance Concourse Hotel in Atlanta.
The Southern Regional breakfast at the New York Forum attracted an overflow crowd to take part in our celebration of victories achieved by you — our members, friends and leaders across our 10 states. Earning applause was the news of cutting-edge renovation and renewal of financial aid work and college scholarship service efforts among the South’s higher education institutions. Other good news was highlighted, including grant awards received in Louisiana; soaring national AP® math and science scores in Alabama, Kentucky and Virginia; college success agendas in South Carolina and Georgia; advanced academic accountability in Florida; an AP rural initiative in Mississippi; higher education leadership in K–12 work in North Carolina; and college completion standards intensification in Tennessee. Your insights and strategic efforts account for this litany of victories.
Our professionals based in the Southern Region offer a standing ovation for the important work you have done. From our bases in Atlanta, Tallahassee, Jackson, Ft. Lauderdale, Baton Rouge, Nashville and Orlando, we are at the ready to help you keep your excellence-driven momentum on the upswing.
Our College Board team is eager to follow your lead as you continue to innovate and build agendas for college success. As the holidays bring us toward 2010, we send good wishes from our College Board family to yours.
Southern Regional Office Staff
Allen, Stephanie Brown, Larry Crumbley, April Curtis, Raphael Demmons, Lynn Dixon, Rachel Dixon, Terrance Espy, Jaye Garner, Ginger Gillie, Jackie Harshaw, Mary Heron, Bill Jara, Jesus Klingensmith, Laura Korede, Seyi |
Krugman, Jenny Matthews, Mark McKenzie, Liz Pace, Tony Patterson, Becky Porter, Marlene Shepard, Debbie Tolle, Alyssa Paulter Tucker, Stephanie Webb, Mandy White, Peyton |
College Board Members Elect New Trustees from the Southern Region
At the Annual Meeting of the Members of the College Board, which took place Oct. 23 at Forum 2009, seven Trustees were elected to the 31-member governing board of the association. In addition, two Trustees who were appointed by regional assemblies last winter were installed.
In the Southern Region, Gordon Stanley, director of counseling at the Marist School in Atlanta, was elected to a four-year term as Trustee and will serve from 2009 to 2013. Michael M. Shackleford, vice president for student affairs at Virginia State University in Petersburg, will represent the Southern Regional Assembly. Luis Martínez-Fernández, professor of history at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, is the newly installed chair of the Academic Assembly and will serve on the Board of Trustees from 2009 to 2011.
The College Board’s Trustees are responsible for assisting in legal and fiduciary decisions; approving the mission, strategic goals and objectives of the organization; establishing policies; and advising those responsible for the management of the organization. The Board of Trustees administers the not-for-profit association with guidance from three national assemblies and six regional assemblies. Member institutions appoint a delegate to each of the three national assemblies — the Academic Assembly, the College Scholarship Service Assembly, and the Guidance and Admission Assembly. Each national assembly provides the College Board with guidance on the issues and College Board activities related to the professional areas represented.
Events & Workshops
Click here to see events and workshops in the Southern Region.
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Be part of the dialogue that is helping shape change nationwide in education — and join your colleagues for an engaging program that will offer powerful solutions that you can apply to your school, your educational community and your own students.
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