Theodore Roosevelt Assistant Principal Kristy Sloma will go before the New York State Board of Regents on March 11 to share her experience in the Assistant Principal Mentor Program. The presentation comes as the New York State Education Department Office of Accountability is giving overviews to the Board of Regents of the programs NYSED has in place and Asst. Principal Sloma’s experience with the mentor program will provide valuable insight.
Asst. Principal Sloma enrolled in the Assistant Principal Mentoring Program in Fall 2022. She and her mentor Jeff Melendez met in-person and virtually to check in, how items they discussed in the last meeting were progressing, and to address current challenges. The overall goal of their mentoring was to increase teacher effectiveness while improving student achievement. This work went toward the submission of an application to Solution Tree for Model PLC School status.
“My mentor was a true mentor,” Sloma said. “When I asked him ‘How do I handle this? What would you do in this situation?’ He never gave me the answer. Instead, he said ‘have you read this book?’ I would purchase the book, and he read the book the same time I read the book. We got back together, and we talked through the summary of the book as well as how it applied to the situation.”
Also included in the Assistant Principal Mentor Program was a network gathering component, where assistant principals in the program all gathered to participate in professional learning sessions on topics aligned with the program’s goals. Ideas from these sessions, as well as breakout sessions, led to new perspectives from around New York State and innovative ideas to implement at Roosevelt.
Congratulations Kristy!