Post by title1parent on Aug 11, 2009 5:38:28 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1709541,D203-First-day-jitters_na081109.article
First-day jitters for new D203 superintendent
New D203 superintendent anxious to begin new year
August 11, 2009
By TIM WALDORF twaldorf@scn1.com
On July 1, Alan Leis stepped into retirement, and Mark Mitrovich officially became Naperville School District 203's new superintendent.
Before taking over the office, though, Mitrovich, 61, had to hand off the business that had been his baby for the past 10 years — EdGate, a company that provides K-12 solutions to improve student performance via the Internet. Also, he and his wife of 34 years, Annette, had to move from their home in Gig Harbor, Wash., to Naperville.
Now, the 30-year educator, who last served as a superintendent of schools a decade ago, is busy settling into his new position, making the transition back to school from the business world. He already has identified ways in which his decade of work with education technology will come in handy here in District 203.
But first thing's first. There's still plenty of people to meet.
And there's still that first day of school to look forward to — and after all these years, he does still look forward it.
Mitrovich explained why Friday when The Sun sat down with him for a Q&A session.
The Sun: It has been about a month and a half that you've been in the position, but in the same respect, you were involved in a number of different things before you officially started. Do you feel acclimated yet?
Mitrovich: Yes, I do. That was such a huge advantage being able to be here during that time. Really, what's happening now is that I'm just able to be devoted full time to all of those things that were going on. So, from that standpoint, I'm having a great time.
The Sun: After 10 years in business, how does it feel to be back in education?
Mitrovich: You know, when you were in it for as long as I was before, and then, even though my life for the last 10 years was in some aspects profoundly different, I still was working with school districts. I was still aware of the things they were struggling with, and, of course, we were having to adapt all of the time to what was going on in education. So you had to be aware of a lot of the things they were struggling with.
So yeah, there are some things that are profoundly different. Obviously, no one FOIAs a private business, you know. But that's neither here nor there. It feels good. I'm enjoying it.
The Sun: First of all, wrapping up the business aspect of things, this was sort of your baby for 10 years, and you've had to just hand it over to whomever. How did that process unfold?
Mitrovich: Maybe I didn't know that I was going to go and do exactly what I did, but I knew that I wanted to do something different. Maybe take the company in a different direction. So things were set up that gave me that kind of freedom.
And the other thing is that one of the people that stayed is one of the people that helped found the company with me. So it was a very advantageous situation.
The Sun: So it wasn't like closing doors and boarding up shop?
Mitrovich: No. No, no, no, no, no. Nothing like that, and, in fact, if anything, it's a case of where ... you know, I was at a conference for the last two days down in Springfield, and I watched a presentation there where a superintendent had done a wonderful thing, and had spent just an incredible number of hours building these spreadsheets on how to display student data and all of this type of thing. And I was sitting there thinking, 'Hmmm. Gosh. That's what we do.' Afterward, I said to him that I'd love to make a connection between you and someone else. And, for full disclosure, you need to understand that all I'll do is create the introduction — I can't be directly involved. But I said, 'Seeing and knowing how many hours you are putting into doing this, what would you do if all of that could be done for you, and all you had to do is come to work in the morning and turn on your computer and have it all in front of you?'
The Sun: Less time compiling information, and more time analyzing it?
Mitrovich: Exactly, and he said, 'Really?' And I made the comment to him that what his job and my job really is about is if I know that information, what am I going to go do about it? But if all of your time is spent trying to gather that information, then that cuts back on the time you spend trying to solve the issue, and that's where you want to be. He said, 'Yeah! Exactly! But I haven't been able to get this kind of information before.'
The Sun: That seems to be, over the past four or five years that I've been covering this beat, a challenge that this district has been trying to deal with in terms of getting different systems to mesh within the data warehouse, and things like that. Is that something you foresee being worked out in the near future?
Mitrovich: I can guarantee it.
The Sun: Is that an immediate goal?
Mitrovich: There are some things over the next 30 days — just getting school open and getting to meet people. I mean, I haven't even been to every school yet because, when I was here, I did get to some buildings, and I did get to meet some people, but there are some people I haven't met, and there are some buildings I haven't seen. Actually, I'm meeting all of the principals together for the first time on Monday, and spending time with them. So there are those kind of introductory things that I need to get past, but, as soon as we do that, yeah, absolutely, that is a real priority for me.
But I have to stay out of downstairs, because I could get down there, and, I mean, I might not come back up again. I know they are working on those things, and we've had some preliminary discussions about them, and they're aware of the sensitivity of what goes on relative to me, and I'm acutely conscious of that. But, by the same token, I see what's happening.
For example, Dave Chiszar, who's our assessment person, has been and will be conducting these data spas where teachers are coming in, and parents are coming in and they're taking a look at the data relative to each of the schools. Well, that's light years ahead of some districts that I've seen. So, really, what we're doing is kind of polishing the apple here in terms of, can we refine some of the technical side of that so that we can spend even more time analyzing the data, because that's where the action is. It's not in cranking out numbers. It's what you do with it once you've got the data.
Everything today is about the data. It's, 'What do we know? How fast can we know it? How fast can we respond to it?' And that's not only from the standpoint of groups of children, but for an individual child.
In the old days, you'd give a test — especially any kind of statewide test or any kind of substantive, formative test — if you had to see that out to be scored, weeks would go by. That's inexcusable. Today, with the technology, you literally could give the test, it's being scored as it's being given, all of the data analysis is being done, and, within minutes of them finishing the tests, you could have all of the results, have the data disaggregated, and be saying, 'All right, now we're prescriptive.' And that's what this should be about.
And I obviously have a passion about the technology side of it, but that's just a tool. That's all it is.
The Sun: You mentioned getting to know people. How much of that have you had a chance to do?
Mitrovich: Every day. Every day I'm meeting people. I'm either there, or they're coming here. It's just to the point where you get work that goes home with you, but that's a priority. It's really important. I had someone here in the office who was a community member who was saying it is really critical, and I said, 'I know it's really critical. It's a huge part of my job, especially when you're new.' But it is really enjoyable. Everybody that I have met has been extremely supportive, and people are highly engaged.
And it was really interesting. I've gotten to meet Kathy Birkett in 204, and we've kind of made an unwritten pact that we're going to see each other regularly to see what's going on and how we can work together, how we can collaborate more. We both have our moments in the press for a variety of things. So how can we build on the pluses on both sides? That's really good, and I think you see the community people who are invested in the success of the districts, because it's a quid pro quo. I mean, if the districts are successful, that usually is a reflection of what is going on in the community.
The Sun: I know there was probably a first impression of what Naperville is, and there was probably that second impression, too. So I guess I'm just interested in how the effort to make Naperville home is going?
Mitrovich: I'll tell you, from the standpoint of my wife and daughter, they've said this is the easiest move they've ever made. They already are at home. They can kind their way to just about any mall in the area now.
No, they love it here. So that's been real easy. My grandson is enrolled. He's about to start preschool. So that's been easy.
The bottom line is I have known about Naperville, as I have said before, long before I came here, and, obviously, even before I came and interviewed, I did a lot of research about this school district and this community. Who Naperville is, what Naperville is, is much more than what happened when I first got here. It has proven itself that by the overwhelming response in the other direction, to say, 'That's not who we are.' And all that has gone on since then is just reinforcing that.
But are you going to have issues to deal with? Yeah, that's the nature of the business, especially when you are dealing with this many people. It's like Kathy and I were saying ... We were sitting down in this room, and there were probably 50 superintendents there, and with Kathy and I together, you could wrap up all of the other school districts there, and none of them, collectively, were as large as Kathy and I. There are very similar issues that will come up that they have to deal with in their communities, but there are also the issues that come with size, but that's no surprise.
The Sun: Basically, a week and half from now is the first day of school.
Mitrovich: Amazing, isn't it?
The Sun: Yeah, what happened to summer? I guess what does the first day of school mean to you.
Mitrovich: It's always a new beginning. That's the beauty of this endeavor. It's a renewing experience. It's anticipation.
I always remember when I taught that I would always come to the end of the school year with a little level of dissatisfaction — of always saying, 'Gosh, I could have done this different.' I mean, you were always learning.
The beauty of it was that you knew in just a couple of months you were going to get to go to it again — granted, with a new group of kids — and that you could always try to do it better. There's something in that that's incredibly stimulating and rewarding, and that's kind of on an individual level.
What became really apparent to me, and with the level of success that people have enjoyed here, is that that's expanded on a very collaborative level. I mean, it's not just classrooms that do that. It's buildings that do that. It's reflected across the entire district.
And anytime you're involved with kids — regardless of their age — that's just a renewing experience. I kind of thrive on that.
The Sun: I never slept well the night before the first day of school. How about you? Is it the excitement that does it?
Mitrovich: Well, remember, I'm old.
No, there's always that sense of eager anticipation. You don't have any problems getting up that morning because you really want to get up and get going. Probably my frustration will be that I'll want to be in every school, and that's just a physical impossibility. Like I've said before, that's where you get your batteries recharged — it's not sitting here, that's for sure. It's out seeing what's going on, what kids are doing, what teachers are doing.
Comment at napersun.com
First-day jitters for new D203 superintendent
New D203 superintendent anxious to begin new year
August 11, 2009
By TIM WALDORF twaldorf@scn1.com
On July 1, Alan Leis stepped into retirement, and Mark Mitrovich officially became Naperville School District 203's new superintendent.
Before taking over the office, though, Mitrovich, 61, had to hand off the business that had been his baby for the past 10 years — EdGate, a company that provides K-12 solutions to improve student performance via the Internet. Also, he and his wife of 34 years, Annette, had to move from their home in Gig Harbor, Wash., to Naperville.
Now, the 30-year educator, who last served as a superintendent of schools a decade ago, is busy settling into his new position, making the transition back to school from the business world. He already has identified ways in which his decade of work with education technology will come in handy here in District 203.
But first thing's first. There's still plenty of people to meet.
And there's still that first day of school to look forward to — and after all these years, he does still look forward it.
Mitrovich explained why Friday when The Sun sat down with him for a Q&A session.
The Sun: It has been about a month and a half that you've been in the position, but in the same respect, you were involved in a number of different things before you officially started. Do you feel acclimated yet?
Mitrovich: Yes, I do. That was such a huge advantage being able to be here during that time. Really, what's happening now is that I'm just able to be devoted full time to all of those things that were going on. So, from that standpoint, I'm having a great time.
The Sun: After 10 years in business, how does it feel to be back in education?
Mitrovich: You know, when you were in it for as long as I was before, and then, even though my life for the last 10 years was in some aspects profoundly different, I still was working with school districts. I was still aware of the things they were struggling with, and, of course, we were having to adapt all of the time to what was going on in education. So you had to be aware of a lot of the things they were struggling with.
So yeah, there are some things that are profoundly different. Obviously, no one FOIAs a private business, you know. But that's neither here nor there. It feels good. I'm enjoying it.
The Sun: First of all, wrapping up the business aspect of things, this was sort of your baby for 10 years, and you've had to just hand it over to whomever. How did that process unfold?
Mitrovich: Maybe I didn't know that I was going to go and do exactly what I did, but I knew that I wanted to do something different. Maybe take the company in a different direction. So things were set up that gave me that kind of freedom.
And the other thing is that one of the people that stayed is one of the people that helped found the company with me. So it was a very advantageous situation.
The Sun: So it wasn't like closing doors and boarding up shop?
Mitrovich: No. No, no, no, no, no. Nothing like that, and, in fact, if anything, it's a case of where ... you know, I was at a conference for the last two days down in Springfield, and I watched a presentation there where a superintendent had done a wonderful thing, and had spent just an incredible number of hours building these spreadsheets on how to display student data and all of this type of thing. And I was sitting there thinking, 'Hmmm. Gosh. That's what we do.' Afterward, I said to him that I'd love to make a connection between you and someone else. And, for full disclosure, you need to understand that all I'll do is create the introduction — I can't be directly involved. But I said, 'Seeing and knowing how many hours you are putting into doing this, what would you do if all of that could be done for you, and all you had to do is come to work in the morning and turn on your computer and have it all in front of you?'
The Sun: Less time compiling information, and more time analyzing it?
Mitrovich: Exactly, and he said, 'Really?' And I made the comment to him that what his job and my job really is about is if I know that information, what am I going to go do about it? But if all of your time is spent trying to gather that information, then that cuts back on the time you spend trying to solve the issue, and that's where you want to be. He said, 'Yeah! Exactly! But I haven't been able to get this kind of information before.'
The Sun: That seems to be, over the past four or five years that I've been covering this beat, a challenge that this district has been trying to deal with in terms of getting different systems to mesh within the data warehouse, and things like that. Is that something you foresee being worked out in the near future?
Mitrovich: I can guarantee it.
The Sun: Is that an immediate goal?
Mitrovich: There are some things over the next 30 days — just getting school open and getting to meet people. I mean, I haven't even been to every school yet because, when I was here, I did get to some buildings, and I did get to meet some people, but there are some people I haven't met, and there are some buildings I haven't seen. Actually, I'm meeting all of the principals together for the first time on Monday, and spending time with them. So there are those kind of introductory things that I need to get past, but, as soon as we do that, yeah, absolutely, that is a real priority for me.
But I have to stay out of downstairs, because I could get down there, and, I mean, I might not come back up again. I know they are working on those things, and we've had some preliminary discussions about them, and they're aware of the sensitivity of what goes on relative to me, and I'm acutely conscious of that. But, by the same token, I see what's happening.
For example, Dave Chiszar, who's our assessment person, has been and will be conducting these data spas where teachers are coming in, and parents are coming in and they're taking a look at the data relative to each of the schools. Well, that's light years ahead of some districts that I've seen. So, really, what we're doing is kind of polishing the apple here in terms of, can we refine some of the technical side of that so that we can spend even more time analyzing the data, because that's where the action is. It's not in cranking out numbers. It's what you do with it once you've got the data.
Everything today is about the data. It's, 'What do we know? How fast can we know it? How fast can we respond to it?' And that's not only from the standpoint of groups of children, but for an individual child.
In the old days, you'd give a test — especially any kind of statewide test or any kind of substantive, formative test — if you had to see that out to be scored, weeks would go by. That's inexcusable. Today, with the technology, you literally could give the test, it's being scored as it's being given, all of the data analysis is being done, and, within minutes of them finishing the tests, you could have all of the results, have the data disaggregated, and be saying, 'All right, now we're prescriptive.' And that's what this should be about.
And I obviously have a passion about the technology side of it, but that's just a tool. That's all it is.
The Sun: You mentioned getting to know people. How much of that have you had a chance to do?
Mitrovich: Every day. Every day I'm meeting people. I'm either there, or they're coming here. It's just to the point where you get work that goes home with you, but that's a priority. It's really important. I had someone here in the office who was a community member who was saying it is really critical, and I said, 'I know it's really critical. It's a huge part of my job, especially when you're new.' But it is really enjoyable. Everybody that I have met has been extremely supportive, and people are highly engaged.
And it was really interesting. I've gotten to meet Kathy Birkett in 204, and we've kind of made an unwritten pact that we're going to see each other regularly to see what's going on and how we can work together, how we can collaborate more. We both have our moments in the press for a variety of things. So how can we build on the pluses on both sides? That's really good, and I think you see the community people who are invested in the success of the districts, because it's a quid pro quo. I mean, if the districts are successful, that usually is a reflection of what is going on in the community.
The Sun: I know there was probably a first impression of what Naperville is, and there was probably that second impression, too. So I guess I'm just interested in how the effort to make Naperville home is going?
Mitrovich: I'll tell you, from the standpoint of my wife and daughter, they've said this is the easiest move they've ever made. They already are at home. They can kind their way to just about any mall in the area now.
No, they love it here. So that's been real easy. My grandson is enrolled. He's about to start preschool. So that's been easy.
The bottom line is I have known about Naperville, as I have said before, long before I came here, and, obviously, even before I came and interviewed, I did a lot of research about this school district and this community. Who Naperville is, what Naperville is, is much more than what happened when I first got here. It has proven itself that by the overwhelming response in the other direction, to say, 'That's not who we are.' And all that has gone on since then is just reinforcing that.
But are you going to have issues to deal with? Yeah, that's the nature of the business, especially when you are dealing with this many people. It's like Kathy and I were saying ... We were sitting down in this room, and there were probably 50 superintendents there, and with Kathy and I together, you could wrap up all of the other school districts there, and none of them, collectively, were as large as Kathy and I. There are very similar issues that will come up that they have to deal with in their communities, but there are also the issues that come with size, but that's no surprise.
The Sun: Basically, a week and half from now is the first day of school.
Mitrovich: Amazing, isn't it?
The Sun: Yeah, what happened to summer? I guess what does the first day of school mean to you.
Mitrovich: It's always a new beginning. That's the beauty of this endeavor. It's a renewing experience. It's anticipation.
I always remember when I taught that I would always come to the end of the school year with a little level of dissatisfaction — of always saying, 'Gosh, I could have done this different.' I mean, you were always learning.
The beauty of it was that you knew in just a couple of months you were going to get to go to it again — granted, with a new group of kids — and that you could always try to do it better. There's something in that that's incredibly stimulating and rewarding, and that's kind of on an individual level.
What became really apparent to me, and with the level of success that people have enjoyed here, is that that's expanded on a very collaborative level. I mean, it's not just classrooms that do that. It's buildings that do that. It's reflected across the entire district.
And anytime you're involved with kids — regardless of their age — that's just a renewing experience. I kind of thrive on that.
The Sun: I never slept well the night before the first day of school. How about you? Is it the excitement that does it?
Mitrovich: Well, remember, I'm old.
No, there's always that sense of eager anticipation. You don't have any problems getting up that morning because you really want to get up and get going. Probably my frustration will be that I'll want to be in every school, and that's just a physical impossibility. Like I've said before, that's where you get your batteries recharged — it's not sitting here, that's for sure. It's out seeing what's going on, what kids are doing, what teachers are doing.
Comment at napersun.com