"I am Providence students through and through. I am from the community."
Pictured above: Superintendent Javier Montañez, M.Ed. 2003年，在他工作的第一个月，他向福尔特斯利马小学的一个班级介绍了自己. Dr. Montañez demonstrates how to say “I love you” in sign language. (Photos by Suzanne Ouellette)
说威斯敏斯特街797号的督学办公室是不公平的, home of the Providence Public School Department, has had a bit of a revolving door in recent years. When Javier Montañez, M.Ed. 2003年夏天，他以临时督学的身份走进了那扇门(后来他被任命为永久督学)。, 他带来了一些他最近的前任(有很多)都无法比拟的东西:在普罗维登斯课堂上的经历.
Montañez的故事令人印象深刻，在其他地方有更详细的记录, 但大致情况是这样的:他在普罗维登斯和纽约之间长大. 他的家庭生活很困难，他十几岁的时候就搬出去了. At times he was homeless, sleeping in unlocked cars or at
Roger Williams Park. He liked school because it was where he knew he could get two hot meals, 但由于患有阅读障碍，他很难阅读，并从高中辍学.
最终Montañez在纽约的Boricua学院获得了普通教育证书，然后在那里获得了副学士学位和学士学位. 他组建了家庭，搬回普罗维登斯，开始在小学教书. 他进入esball官方网攻读硕士学位，并在约翰逊大学获得博士学位 & Wales.
Montañez家的孩子们上的是普罗维登斯公立学校，而他们的父亲则是步步高升. Montañez became principal at Leviton Dual Language School and, after the abrupt departure of his immediate predecessor, 罗得岛州中小学教育专员安吉莉卡, who is leading the state intervention in Providence public schools.
Now this former classroom teacher has inherited one of the toughest jobs in the state; however, the early consensus seems to be that he’s up to the challenge.
你在很多方面都是普罗维登斯公立学校系统的产物:你都在那里上学，也在那里教书. What does it mean for students to see you in the superintendent’s chair?
首先，我想说的是，如果我能做到，任何人都能做到. I am Providence students through and through. I am from the community. I think students realize that if I’m capable of doing this, then they can ask themselves: what am I capable of doing, and what aspirations do I have?
我告诉他们:“我不希望你们像我一样，我需要你们比我更好。.“我试图灌输给他们的是要有远大的梦想，永远不要停止梦想，永远不要让任何人偏离你的梦想，因为你有能力做任何事，成为任何你想成为的人。.
What does it mean for teachers to see someone who has worked, like them, in the classroom as superintendent?
I think there’s a sense of pride. They know that my nucleus is and always will be students. 所以，他们知道我所做的决定总是基于对我们的孩子最好的考虑. They know that I’m an individual who they can have conversations with. I’m considered a teacher and an administrator.
从你的教学经验中，有哪一件事是你带给校长办公室的，而那些有严格行政背景的人可能不知道的?
When you’re in the classroom, you must be a facilitator. 我认为在课堂上，我们从老师变成促进者是非常重要的. 当你是一个在课堂上支持学生并确保他们相信自己的管理者时, you bring that with you and apply it to the whole building. It doesn’t mean that every strategy I’ve used is going to be the best, but when teachers know that you’re coming in with that knowledge, they tend to appreciate your suggestions.
RIC的研究生院在你的职业发展中发挥了什么作用?
The practicum made a big difference for me. 我不仅学习了行政管理的技术方面和理论, 当我回到学校时，我把它付诸实践. 我真的很感激这些课程，因为它们为我职业生涯的下一步做好了准备.
Why did you choose RIC?
One of the reasons I attended RIC was because it was in my backyard. I lived less than a half a mile away. 我是全职家长，全职工作，全职上学. It was easier for me to stay within what I call home. I’m working for the community, 我要在我的社区里上学，esball官方网在我们社区里很有名.
你认为RIC在支持普罗维登斯公立学校方面可以发挥什么作用?
RIC作为普罗维登斯学校的合作伙伴已经有很多年了. We want to create a pipeline at multiple levels.
首先，我们关注那些想成为老师的学生，他们选择去RIC. How do we prepare them?
然后我们需要为那些已经在普罗维登斯公立学校部门的学生提供一个项目, such as teacher assistants and instructional assistants. 我们如何为那些已经拥有副学士或学士学位的人做好准备? How do we help them grow? 我们要确保我们为他们制定的计划不会和别人开始新的计划一样.
还有一些教师已经获得了学士学位，但他们想扩大自己的专业范围，或者攻读硕士学位. We want to make sure that they stay in Providence. 我们知道许多从RIC毕业的人留在了罗德岛, so we want to be able to grow our own from within.
We also need to prepare a pipeline in some of the hard-to-fill areas. We need an area focused on special education. That is a hard-to-fill position. We [need teachers for] multilingual learners. How do we fill those positions? And then science in high school and math in middle and high school, we need specialized teachers for those areas. 这些是我们需要建立的管道，以确保我们得到最优秀的人才，并使他们留在我们身边.