Bucks
Dr. Lisa Andrejko Quakertown School District Superintendent
Dear Friends,
Good morning. “I do not sing, I superintend,” Dr. Lisa Andrejko began with a laugh following my observation that she began her career as a music teacher. Two weeks on the job, in my first interview with her, I asked her about the immediate problems that she’ll face; student obesity; mandated programs with insufficient funding; taxpayer concerns; and the math controversy.
Andrejko believes that her first public relations challenge will be to restore faith in the Quakertown school district. There has been much criticism (some of it fair…much of it not) about how effective the public school is and whether the taxpayer is getting the biggest bang for the buck.
“Remember, this is a good school district,” she said. “We’re not afraid of scrutiny or controversy. Not everything is rosy but there’s no reason to put the school down. Yes, there are challenges,” Andrejko continued, “but I’m a straight shooter and I won’t sugarcoat things. We [the school district] have a strategic plan, but we need specific goals that we’ll work toward with teachers, parents and the community.”
Will she replace the present vacancies for five administrators? “Not all of them,” Andrejko predicted.
Will Quakertown reinstate integrated math with traditional math, a thorny subject that caused considerable parental angst? “There’s no right way that’s good for all,” Andrejko answered. “We should tailor math to the kids. The elementary schools fared best with integrated math so we’ll continue it there,” she said, “but the Middle and High school will see the more traditional math system. I don’t think that one size fits all. Let’s rely on the professionals. Our teachers can teach both [traditional and integrated math].”
Like most of the 501 Pennsylvania school districts, Quakertown believes that it’s short changed by federal and state mandates…with insufficient funds to pay for them. The taxpayer ends up holding the bag. Next week, I’ll tell you more.
Her two sons graduated from the Southern Lehigh school district, where she lives. I recall that Southern Lehigh has a Spanish immersion program for the elementary schools. As I remember it, students learned all of the academic disciplines speaking and writing Spanish. Parents had the option of signing their children up for the program or not. Teachers supplemented English reading and writing for homework…English was used only on the playgrounds.
Will she bring a language immersion program to Quakertown? “As a parent, I had a positive experience,” Andrejko replied, “but there’s a cost involved with it. I’ll look to the [school] board for their thoughts.”
I showed her an Associated Press story (July 14) about student obesity. “Fewer than half of American children who live close to school regularly walk or ride a bike to classes,” it read. “In 1969, about 90 percent of kids who lived within a mile of school walked or rode bikes to get there. In 2004, just 48 percent did that.” I’ll provide her response next week.
The East Penn school district weighs students each year and informs parents about the risks of obesity. In spite of a rough beginning in the first year, the program has been well received. Will Quakertown follow East Penn’s suit? “We should ask the parents first,” Andrejko answered.
Stay tuned.
Tall and rangy, I wondered whether she’d been a college athlete? Indeed, she had. At Wilkes College, she was the captain of the swimming team…the men’s swimming team, that is. Wilkes College didn’t have the luxury of separate men’s and women’s swimming teams. There was only one team. If a female was good enough, she made the [men’s] team. Andrejko’s events were butterfly and freestyle. She also coached the sport.
I’ve never met a musician that I didn’t like, so we got off to a good start. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to bring up the question of a student orchestra for the Quakertown school district. Unlike the Palisades and Pennridge school districts, Quakertown hasn’t had an orchestra since my days at QHS, 50 plus years ago. That question will have to wait for another day.
I hope that our chats continue to go well. Let us pray that her frank, no nonsense approach to the business of getting our kids ready for international competition goes well too.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith