New School Administrator Believes In Collaboration And Fun

By Tanjua Damon

“Gardeners learn plants must have the right environment from the start. Growth happens when water and nourishment are enough but not too much, and when the gardener stands back to give room for light, air, and time to do their work.  Teaching is like that.”

Alice S. Jackson wrote this and gave it to many of the people within the Newtown School System when she was resigning as the special education chairman at Newtown High School in 1988. Now those who are still working for the district are pulling out this quotation to show to the new assistant superintendent for the Newtown School System that they still have them.

Mrs Jackson began her new post on August 1 and is looking forward to learning more about the district and the people and students within it. She was working for the Wallingford School District, where she spent nine years developing curriculum.

Mrs Jackson says that Newtown was a perfect fit for her because she already believes and practices the models that the district uses and feels that collaborative work is essential for success.

“This district is very unusual because it functions as a system based on models of how people will interact and solve problems. That framework is extraordinary,” Mrs Jackson said. “I think I’m a good match. I have some of the background from my Yale work that allows me to understand the theoretical framework that I believe in and have been living for a long time. So it is not hard for me to come in and be a part of this framework.”

During the late 1980s and early 1990s Mrs Jackson worked in the Yale Department of Psychology with Roger Weissberg and Robert Sternberg. While at Yale she worked on programs that taught social competence skills and prevention of drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and violence, and wrote a handbook and guide to implement theories of intelligence.

She has also taught in every grade from kindergarten to 12th grade. She is down to earth, charismatic, fun, and full of life.

“I don’t want people to be afraid of me because of my title. I’m here to help the system facilitate the growth of children,” she said. “I’m as comfortable teaching first grade reading as I am teaching tenth grade biology.”

Mrs Jackson wants to spend some time learning more about the district and seeing where the needs are. She is excited to be working in Newtown and feels that she can add to the good things that are already happening here.

“First I want to understand the district before I make any life threatening decisions. I think it’s important for me to listen and learn and really know who people are and have multiple sittings to see what the needs are and hear what the needs are. I genuinely believe in collaboration,” Mrs Jackson said. “I can listen and really put myself in the other person’s shoes. I’m really good at chairing committees. I’ve gone to learn what it is to be a good teacher. I’m in a job here where we want to function as a system. We are here to solve problems. Collaboratively solving them. I’m here to help the system be better.”

Working as a team to better the education of children is a passion for Mrs Jackson. Taking time to learn about who people are helps that process.

“Because of who I am it’s not just the learning, it’s the emotional support I provide. Everything I have ever done that was good has been done collaboratively,” she said. “It really is taking time to care about people. Not just what they need, but getting to know who we are. In the school system we’re really about kids.”

Life is about learning. Mrs Jackson makes it no secret that she enjoys learning and that is the great thing about life, especially when you can conquer something that is unknown or is a discomfort to you.

“That’s how you stay alive. That’s what life’s about is learning,” Mrs Jackson said. “Cognitive dissonance, it’s a challenge if you face that discomfort and work at the learning and the ‘ah’ at the end. There is no other euphoria. That’s part of where my fun comes from.”

Mrs Jackson received a bachelor of arts and master of arts in special education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has a 6th-year certificate in educational leadership in Southern Connecticut State University. She has written eight books and has had numerous articles published.