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In less than two years since Superintendent Lamont Repollet first introduced the Hard Hat Nation, the Asbury Park School District has been recognized nationally as a Model School by the International Center for Leadership Education.

Since its 1992 inception, the International Center for Leadership in Education has identified schools across the nation and around the world that make tremendous strides in student learning, according to a statement on its website.  The schools are invited to share successful strategies at the annual Model Schools Conference, held this year June 26 to 29 in Orlando.

“Asbury Park was chosen for their system approach to transforming the district,” said Susan Gendron, President of the International Center for Leadership in Education, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The global learning company acquired Scholastic Corporation’s Educational Technology and Services business for $575 million in cash last year.

Repollet was among the Conference’s featured speakers and, with Director of Curriculum Sancha Gray [shown below], led a session on innovative districts.

Repollet’s Hard Hat Nation is the metaphorical reminder that the district and its supporters are committed to building a brighter future for its students and their community. Like caution tape around a construction site, Repollet said the hard hats signify their resolve to rebuild, retool and restore the district by implementing policies, curriculum and programs that best serve its 2,000 students.

“We have embarked on an educational renaissance,” Repollet said during a June 23 interview. “That is why we talk about rising up, about building a brighter future.”

The first move was to implement Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s $3.4 million reading language arts literacy program that included faculty training. The district historically had some of the lowest literacy rates in the state, with students in grades 3 to 12 struggling to achieve .5 years of growth each school year.

By the end of the school year, 44 percent of students in grades 3 to 12 exceeded one year’s reading growth in a single semester, as a result of the implementation of reading intervention programs, with 23 percent exceeding two year’s growth in a semester.

“We have kindergarten students reading on grade level for the first time,” Gray said.

And, the percent of students failing three or more courses fell from 30% to 3%, according to data from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Meghan Kelly Daly.

“The progress that has been made in such a short time is a testament to Dr. Repollet and Dr. Gray’s leadership,” Genron said. “They have a clear vision for the district with measurable goals and these are all components we look for in Innovative Districts.”

Among its other initiatives, the district created a College and Career Readiness program, which helps students identify their career interests and establishes paid summer internship opportunities as well as informational seminars.

In January, the district won the Innovate NJ honor for demonstrating a commitment to providing, designing, and implementing innovative school environments, according to a news release from state Department of Education.

They embarked on refurbishing the Parent Center and created middle and elementary school makerspaces.

“This self guided hands-on environment is only limited by the student’s individual genius,” Middle School Principal RaShawn M. Adams said in a September interview. “All students need a place that can have real world application.”

The Parent Center allows the district’s parent liaisons to better meet the needs of their students’ families. They include ESL, social service programs, and computer education, parent liaison Sonia Velazquez has said.

The district is also implementing career academies and working with Brookdale Community College to accelerate post secondary educational opportunities for qualifying students through its Dream Academies.

Repollet and Gray first attended the Model Schools Conference last year and immediately set out to become a model school, they both said. They took away and implemented the use of social media to spark parent interaction.

The use of social media to keep parents involved has been an invaluable tool in a district where parents may work two or three jobs and/or not have the time or resources to dedicate to traditional parent organizations, Gray said.

“Most importantly, our parents get to see the great work we are doing inside our school’s,” Repollet said.

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