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The Board of Education approved Dr. Joseph’s
new contract during its August 7 meeting at Albany High School. Dr.
Joseph, who had one year remaining on her previous contract, will serve
through Sept. 30, 2010.
“We are pleased with the direction and
leadership Dr. Joseph has provided to the City School District of Albany
in changing our educational system so that it serves the needs of all
children,” said Board President Teneka Frost. “We are eager to continue
working with her in our collective efforts to maintain an educational
environment of high expectations, high performance and constant
improvement that yields excellent results for our students.”
Beginning her 11th year with the
district and her fourth as superintendent, Dr. Joseph thanked the Board
for its support. She said she is looking forward to working with the
Board and stakeholders from across the district and the community.
“I am proud to be the superintendent of
Albany’s public school system,” Dr. Joseph said. “I am excited about
this great opportunity to continue for three more years the hard and
rewarding work we have undertaken as a school district.”
As superintendent, Dr. Joseph has led an
effort to increase the number of minority graduates and raise student
achievement at all elementary schools in the district, putting them in
“good standing” with the State Education Department. Earlier this year,
the state honored five of the district’s elementary schools for
achievement. Albany High School also completed the 2006-07 academic year
with approximately 90 percent of its graduates gaining college
acceptance, the highest percentage of graduates in the district’s
history.
Dr. Joseph was instrumental in winning
approval for the district’s $185 million renovation and construction
project, which voters passed by a 2:1 margin in 2001. As superintendent,
she has overseen the dramatic rebuilding program, which has included the
addition of Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School as well as new and
refurbished state-of-the-art facilities across the district.
When the facilities project is completed in
2010, 14 of the district’s 18 schools will have been rebuilt or
renovated, providing one of the finest public-school infrastructures in
the Capital Region.
“We face very real challenges as a district
and as a community, challenges that at times have not served all of our
students well,” Dr. Joseph said. “While we acknowledge those challenges
and our responsibility toward them, we must be careful not let them
obscure the great progress we have made in recent years.
“Improved student achievement. Improved
facilities. Improved opportunities for success throughout our
curriculum. The residents of Albany can take pride in the city’s public
schools, and we are positioned to continue our progress.”
Dr. Joseph vowed to continue working with
stakeholders from throughout the community to holistically re-engineer
Albany’s middle and high school programs and address challenges head-on
as the district strives to develop students whose critical-thinking and
problem-solving skills prepare them for success in today’s world.
Albany will continue building culturally
responsive schools, strengthening relationships with the community and
encouraging greater engagement between school and home, Dr. Joseph said.
“This is an exciting, challenging time for
the City School District of Albany,” she said. “I am excited about this
great opportunity to continue working together with all of our
stakeholders as we build a strong, secure, successful future for our
children.”
An Albany resident, Dr. Joseph joined the
district in 1997 as the assistant superintendent for instruction. She
was named deputy superintendent in 2003 and twice during her career in
Albany she assumed the role of interim superintendent.
Dr. Joseph received her doctorate from
Columbia University and her educational administrative certification
from the State University of New York at Cortland. She also holds a
master’s degree in audiology from Bowling Green State University and a
bachelor’s degree in communication disorders from the State University
of Brockport.
The City School
District of Albany serves almost 9,400 students in 19
elementary, middle and high schools. The district includes several
magnet schools and programs, as well as other innovative academic
opportunities for students in addition to neighborhood schools. The
district is more than halfway through its comprehensive facilities
project to newly build and/or renovate nearly all of its elementary
and middle schools. The ultimate goal of the facilities project is
to provide schools with the resources necessary to help students
succeed in the 21st century.
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