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The East Baton Rouge Parish School System has a new Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Sito Narcisse. Dr. Narcisse is a man with a plan, hitting the ground running, working remotely his first week on the job before moving his family to Baton Rouge in January. He comes to EBRP from his last station as the Chief of Secondary Schools of District of Columbia Public Schools. Dr. Narcisse has been a teacher, a principal—opening a high school in the Pittsburgh Public Schools and leading turnaround efforts in a Boston Public High School—a Director of School Performance and Acting Chief School Improvement Officer for Montgomery County Public Schools (MD), and an Associate Superintendent overseeing school improvement efforts for 74 schools in Prince George’s County Public Schools (MD). Dr. Sito Narcisse most recently served as the Chief of Schools for the Metro Nashville Public Schools (TN) supervising and supporting 167 schools in the city of Nashville.
The son of Haitian immigrants, Dr. Narcisse’s family moved to Long Island, NY, in pursuit of a better life. He learned to navigate both the social and academic obstacles that confront millions of students today. His success as a student led him to enroll at Kennesaw State University in Georgia where he graduated with a degree in French and pursued a Master’s Degree from Vanderbilt University in Secondary Education. Doctoral studies led him to the University of Pittsburgh where he earned a Doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy Studies and Leadership from the University of Pittsburgh.
“In order for East Baton Rouge Parish to be a successful school system, it is important that the school board and I establish a positive, trusting, and collaborative working relationship,” Narcisse says.
“This relationship will be fostered and strengthened through my first hundred days, working with the board to discuss issues of governance, management, core values, and beliefs as well as consider what challenges we face.”
Knowing its importance, Narcisse has set himself about a rigorous plan to establish public trust by engaging the community in a series of extensive listening sessions to cultivate and build lasting relationships by seeking all stakeholders’ perspectives. Narcisse has a clear vision and a process already taking action to facilitate the creation of key performance indicators to confirm and drive the school system’s efforts to improve student learning, address operational efficiencies, and improve equitable access for historically underserved children, families, and communities. Through a collaborative effort, the district can improve school and organizational culture, strengthen instruction, and accelerate the learning for all children in the school district, especially those who have been historically underserved.
“The goal is to work with the community to understand the culture, history, and diversity of the schools and communities. I will be proactive and deliberate in reaching out to stakeholders traditionally underrepresented in public education to make certain their voices are heard and valued.”
Change starts here.
The East Baton Rouge Parish School system has a clear vision and goals for Dr. Narcisse’s first hundred days:
- Collaborating with the EBRP School Board to build a trusting, productive, team-oriented relationship and establish effective governance within the district.
- He is meeting with school system stakeholders in a series of forums to understand the perspectives and viewpoints of various coalitions and individuals relative to their support of/for EBR’s children and families. Stakeholders include school district staff, teachers, support staff, school leaders and central office staff as well as community partners including, from the business community, university partners, parents, and the faith community.
- Create EBR Roundtables for students, school leaders, and teachers to listen to their assessments of the school system’s plans and responses in handling the coronavirus, particularly the challenges and the successes relative to virtual/distance instruction, social-emotional learning, self-care of/for/by adults in schools, instructional equity, and collaborations with local departments of health.
- Meet with department supervisors and current executive staff to discuss current work and structures needed to begin addressing specific challenges.
- Increase the school district’s organizational capacity, efficiency and effectiveness by examining the alignment of mission and vision; the strategic, technology, and capital plans; budget priorities; curriculum and instruction; expenditure of federal funds; and student achievement.
Read more about Dr. Narcisse’s entry plan at ebrschools.org.
