Tag Archive: Reginald Mayo

  1. Mayo returns as new NHPS interim superintendent

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    Reginald Mayo will return to New Haven Public Schools as its interim superintendent following Garth Harries’ ’95 resignation last month, Mayor Toni Harp announced at a Monday night Board of Education meeting.

    Mayo, who was named NHPS superintendent in 1992, retired from his position in 2013 after a 46-year career in the school district. Chair of the interim superintendent search committee Darnell Goldson, also a BOE member, said the committee received applications from five candidates and conducted interviews with all candidates on Oct. 17. The position was offered to Mayo on Oct. 19 and the committee discussed the terms of his contract prior to Monday’s meeting.

    To a room of over 50 attendees and nine BOE members, Harp announced the terms of Mayo’s contract — a salary of $130,500 for 174 days in office, starting Nov. 2. The BOE voted unanimously to approve the contract.

    “When I came [in as superintendent] there was work to do, and when I left there was work to do,” Mayo said. “Just got to keep working at it and not give up.”

    Mayo said some of the items at the top of his agenda in 1992 — including closing the district’s achievement gap and hiring quality teachers — remain issues in New Haven today.

    He thanked Harries for his work and highlighted Harries’ achievements during his term as superintendent, including securing a $54 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for NHPS in 2012 and decreasing the district’s dropout rate.

    “[It] seemed like he never went home,” Mayo said, joking that the only thing he could not get Harries to do was “shine his shoes.”

    Harries came to NHPS from New York in 2009 to design the school-reform program School Change Initiative, and served as assistant superintendent under Mayo until Harries was appointed superintendent following Mayo’s retirement in 2013.

    At the meeting, Harries emphasized that a smooth transition was important to him and said he is “standing poised” to support that transition in whatever way he can. He thanked the school board and district, and said NHPS has a strong foundation upon which it must continue to grow.

    “[Harries] came in with a reputation as a guy who wanted to do things his way,” Mayo said. “He’s leaving the same way he came in.”

    Coral Ortiz, one of the BOE’s two student representatives, thanked Harries for his service on behalf of the students of New Haven. She said Harries clearly cares about New Haven’s students, and added that he handles himself well in the face of opposition and criticism. Ortiz, a current senior at James Hillhouse High School, also followed up on a request she made on Oct. 11 for a letter to be sent out to NHPS families informing them about the district’s progress in finding a new superintendent.

    The application for interim superintendent called for at least 10 years of senior leadership at a school and gave preference to candidates with strong working knowledge of Common Core standards and special education. Additionally, per the requirements on the application, Mayo will not be eligible to apply for the permanent position — the BOE passed a ruling encouraging the interim superintendent to focus his energy on the district, rather than in his candidacy for permanent superintendent.

    The interim superintendent will serve for four to six months until the BOE appoints a permanent superintendent.

  2. NHPS opens up national superintendent search

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    New Haven Public Schools has taken another step towards selecting a new superintendent by opening up a national search for the position.

    After Superintendent Reginald Mayo announced his retirement this past February, New Haven’s Board of Education has been looking for someone to replace him as the top official in the district — a position Mayo held for 21 years. Members of the Board of Education said they hoped to have a new superintendent by June 30.

    New Haven announced that the district will begin a national search for a superintendent by posting a position profile that was created by a combination of thoughts expressed by various stakeholders. The first bullet on the candidate’s profile specifies that the district is looking for a “visible, accessible, and interactive leader who will champion a vision for transformed student outcomes, building on what is working in the current NHPS School Change Initiative and rigorously reexamining what is not.” It also identifies what the district believes to be its top challenges: high school graduation rates, Pre-K programming, inequalities in funding and special education. In addition, the first paragraph of the position profile describes New Haven to prospective superintendents and points to Yale University’s presence in the city as a selling point.

    New Haven Public Schools has also announced that Mayo was honored with a lifetime ‘TAPS’ award, which is awarded to teachers, administrators, parents or support staff who have benefited the district during their tenure.

  3. Thursday’s Buzz: 2.21.13

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    THE NEWS

    • New Haven Public Schools Superintendent Reginald Mayo has announced that he will retire at the end of this year, effective June 30. Find out more about his legacy and what Mayo’s announcement means for the city in tomorrow’s News.
    • Peter Salovey has just four months until he settles into the President’s Office in Woodbridge Hall. Until then, the President-elect is on the move. Since Benjamin Polak took over as provost on Jan. 15, Salovey has devoted his full attention to preparations for the presidency. By the end of this semester, Salovey will have completed a partial world-tour to meet donors and introduce himself to the global Yale community. Though Salovey has been spotted in the lobby of the Yale Club of New York, trips down the Connecticut shoreline are just the beginning, as Salovey estimated he spends about one-third of his time traveling for the job.
    • University President-elect Peter Salovey wore two hats during this afternoon’s panel on the role of cultural centers on Yale’s campus, speaking both as Yale’s next president and as a social scientist. The event, which was hosted by La Casa as part of a weeklong campaign to increase awareness of the center, hosted three panelists — Salovey, Trumbull College Dean Jasmina Besirevic-Regan and Student Affairs Fellow Hannah Peck DIV ’11 — who discussed self-segregation, social identity and affirmative action. Salovey said the criticism cultural houses receive for being self-segregating is inevitable because race has been a sensitive issue in U.S. history.
    THE WEATHER

    High of 32 degrees, low of 20 degrees, mostly sunny and clear.

    THE FOOD

    In the colleges

    Breakfast: Steelcut Oats, Waffle Bar, Lemon Meltaway Cake Ring

    Lunch: Tortilla Soup Mezclado, Orzo Vegetable Soup, Chef’s Choice Grilled Flatbread, Berkeley Mac & Cheese, Black Eyed Peas & Chili Casserole, Honey Mustard Dip, Duck Sauce, Grilled Garden Burger, Hand-breaded Chicken Tenders, Chicken Club Wrap, Bourbon Yams, Fresh Market Vegetable, Southwestern Potato Salad, Chipotle Carrot & Cucumber Salad, Orange Almond Cupcake, Coconut Macaroon

    Dinner: Tortilla Soup Mezclado, Orzo Vegetable Soup, Turkey Stew, St. Louis Style BBQ Spareribs, Baking Powder Biscuit, Tofu & Grilled Vegetables, Sweet Potato & Quinoa Burger, Grilled Garden Burger, Curly Fries, Fresh Market Vegetable, Southwestern Potato Salad, Chipotle Carrot & Cucumber Salad, Apple Strudel

    In Commons

    Breakfast: Grits, Waffle Bar, Omelets To Order, Cage-Free Scrambled Egg Whites, Cage-Free Scrambled Eggs, Breakfast Sausage Pattie, Potato Pancakes

    Lunch: Roasted Corn & Tomato Soup, English Beef Barley Soup, Home-Style All Beef Meatloaf, Baked Polenta, Spaghetti, Black Bean Quesadilla, Grilled Chicken Breast, Pepperoni Pizza, Eggplant Pizza, Cheese Pizza, Pork Char Siew, Chef’s Choice WOK, Vegetable Fried Rice, Jasmine Rice, Roast Beef Sand with Caramelized Onions, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Market Vegetable, Peas & Carrots, Barley, Corn & Tomato with Smoked Mozzarella, Arugula & Nectarine Salad, Orange Almond Cupcake, Toffee Coffee Cookie

  4. NHPS superintendent to retire this year

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    After 21 years as the superintendent of New Haven Public Schools, Reginald Mayo has announced that he will retire at the end of this year, effective June 30.

    Mayo’s announcement confirms a previous News report that said the long-time superintendent would retire based on information from City Clerk Ron Smith. Mayo’s primary accomplishments include building the largest interdistrict magnet school program in the state of Connecticut, extending kindergarten school days and remodeling all 37 schools in the district.

    “If I wait for the day to come when I no longer love overseeing this school district and looking out for the 21,000 public school children we serve, I might never retire,” Mayo said. “However, after 46 years of service to New Haven Public Schools, including the last 21 years as your superintendent, it is time for me to move on.”

    His retirement comes on the heels of Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s announcement that he will not pursue re-election this year. The two worked together on a number of initiatives, including the New Haven School Change Initiative.

  5. New Haven public schools to meet during February break

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    New Haven public schools will meet during February break to make up for the lack of classes during New Haven’s two megastorms this year, according to a Wednesday press release from Abbe Smith, director of communications for New Haven Public Schools.

    Classes will meet next Tuesday, Feb. 19, through Friday, Feb. 22, to make up four days of lost classes in the aftermath of last weekend’s blizzard. Though Yalies started trudging to class today, New Haven public school students have the rest of the week off as the Elm City continues to recover from the biggest storm to hit New Haven in over 100 years.

    So far this academic year, the district has had to cancel 10 days of classes following Superstorm Sandy and last weekend’s blizzard. By law, the school district is required to complete 180 days of school by June 10, and only two snow days had been accounted for in the calendar.

    “We don’t want our students out of school for too long,” said Superintendent of Schools Reginald Mayo in the press release. “We canceled school for a week out of concern for the safety of our students and a need to keep people off the roads during intense snow removal operations. Now it is time for them to get back in the classroom and back to the business of learning.”

    The district will work with the New Haven Federation of Teachers to come up with a plan to reschedule the additional days.