The ‘Fairy Godmother’ Of Newtown’s Teachers Flies Away

By Nancy K. Crevier

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Alice Jackson refers to herself as “the fairy godmother for teachers,” and has even appeared in a classroom sporting wings and brandishing a wand. “As ‘Head of the Curriculum’ teachers wouldn’t tell me their needs,” she explained, “but if I said I was their fairy godmother, I could help them. Titles are threatening,” she said in a recent interview, with just a trace of a southern accent betraying her North Carolina roots.

Ms Jackson will retire from the Newtown school system June 29. She has been involved in education for 40 years, many of them within the Newtown schools. “I started at Newtown High School in 1985, and chaired the special education department there from 1985 to 1988,” said Ms Jackson. From there, she spent four years at Yale in the department of psychology, where she ran research on curriculum, and wrote eight books on practical intelligence curriculum, or as she said, “Teaching common sense.”

 Following a nearly ten-year stint as head of the curriculum of education in Wallingford, Ms Jackson returned to Newtown in 2001 to take over the position of assistant superintendent.

“I saw three needs in Newtown at that time,” Ms Jackson said. The first was a need for a stronger curriculum framework that aligned the grades and brought about better continuity, grade to grade, and class to class. “We have built that in language arts, math, science, music, art, and social studies,” Ms Jackson said.

The second issue she addressed over the years was improved communication with parents. With the help of staff, Ms Jackson developed the Parent Tool Kit. Parent Tool Kits include curriculum overview for every grade, broken down by developmental years. “They were written by and for parents and teachers,” Ms Jackson said, and suggest what can be done at home to help children learn and what the school will do. Practical advice as well as advice on schooling is included, and the kits, sent to every student household, have received positive response, Ms Jackson said. “The Parent Tool Kit for grades 9 to 12 is the last one, and is in its final draft. We are still revising the tool kits to ensure they are current,” she added.

“My own mission has been that of staff development,” said Ms Jackson, of the third issue she addressed as assistant superintendent. “I see my role as supporting growth and nurturing growth. I wanted to have the staff understand the research of brain research and its implication for classrooms. I’m about the ‘why’ as a teacher, not just the surface knowledge.”

She has had success through in-service workshops to develop curriculum using the understanding of neurology to determine what should be taught and how it should be taught. “I think we have built a leadership group for grades kindergarten through twelfth grade. I leave with at least 35 people throughout the district who understand the underpinnings of the curriculum and know what was done.”

She is proud of her accomplishments, but asserted that “none of this did I do on my own; I did the ‘behind’ work, but it was a team of people.”

Lastly, she is proud that under her tutelage the Newtown school system has also created analytical rubrics for language arts and math. “This is a tool that helps with consistency of expectations from teacher to teacher and serves as a diagnostic purpose, enabling us to collect data on programs,” Ms Jackson said. Analytical rubrics help clarify for both teachers and parents the strengths and weaknesses of students, as well, she said.

“Alice is an extremely intelligent and competent educational leader who has served this district well,” said Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff of his experiences working with Ms Jackson. “She revolutionized the curriculum review process to bring our district to a higher academic level. Parent Took Kits is particularly noteworthy, having won an award as an outstanding education document by the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. Her positive impact on the quality of education in the district will continue for the years to come and has set an excellent foundation for continuous improvement for the future,” he added.

When all is said and done, though, the most fun her work offers, according to Ms Jackson, is to teach the kids. “I’ve tried to teach a group of kids in every building so I would have a first-hand experience of how kids work in each building. It was always a learning experience for me, for the kids, and for the staff.”

The second most fun thing she experienced in her position was that of the new teacher in-service programs. “To have the people there start to become the community of learners we are in this district was just fantastic,” Ms Jackson said.

After 40 years of service, Ms Jackson admitted to being ready for a break. “You cannot do anything but do this job when you are in it,” she said. “I studied watercolor for several years, but I’ve only had time to paint one time a year, in each July.” Retirement will offer the chance to not only paint, but to play piano and putter in the garden, she said. “I’ll be happy to just be quiet.”

And with a wave of her wand and a flit of her wings, the fairy godmother of Newtown teachers plans to make herself disappear from the Newtown school system — but not without a trace.