New Principal Hired at Integrated Arts Academy

The Burlington School District issued the following press release today.

"The Burlington Board of School Commissioners has appointed Trevor D. Christopher to be the new principal at the Integrated Arts Academy at H.O. Wheeler Elementary School effective July 1, 2011. Mr. Christopher was chosen following an extensive nation wide search and inclusive search process which included parents, teachers, and administrator involvement. He replaces Brian Williams, the Interim Principal of IAA who served for the 2010-2011 school year.

Mr. Christopher comes to Burlington after having been an administrator in U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Maryland, and Illinois for 14 years. In all four districts, he has been noted to be a strong student advocate who works with faculty and staff and parents to develop a strong community for academic achievement. His interest in the integrated arts is a part of his passion for school transformation focused on student success. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry from Oakwood College in Huntsville, and a Master of Arts in Education (Admin/Supv) Degree from the University of the Virgin Islands.

Mr. Christopher's appointment begins on July 1, 2011."

21st Century Learning: Expanding Opportunities for ALL Children to Learn

Governor Shumlin stated in his inaugural address, “In a democratic society, educating our citizens is our single greatest obligation." Yet Vermont faces more challenges than ever in providing inclusive education: tighter budgets, greater student needs, and growing ethnic diversity.

In recognition of this, Diversity Now and the Burlington School District have collaborated to bring Dr. Oscar Santos, ascendant Randolph, MA school superintendent, to Burlington to share his triumphs and lessons learned in over 15 years as a successful urban educator. Former principal of a school with a large ELL population, Santos says: “I don’t believe in achievement gaps. But there is an expectations gap, and there is a support gap,” emphasizing the importance of believing that all students can achieve at a high level.

The title of his talk is “21st Century Education: Expanding Opportunities for ALL Children to Learn.”


Public Talk
Date: March 14, 2011
Time: 6:30-8:00pm
Location: Edmunds Middle School, 275 Main Street, Burlington, VT


For additional information or questions, contact Stephanie Seguino at sseguino@uvm.edu.

For a copy of the flier for this event, go to this link

Burlington School District Recruiting Principal Candidates for Integrated Arts Academy

The Burlington School District is recruiting candidates for the position of principal to lead Vermont's 1st Integrated Arts K-5 Magnet School with a racially, culturally, and socio-economically diverse student population. For more information on this position and the application process, see the following link.


Please disseminate to interested parties.

Update on Diversity Now’s Activities

Diversity Now has been working on several initiatives this fall.

1. We are organizing a visit in the spring by Oscar Santos, Superintendent in the Randolph, MA school district to discuss with the Board, the District, and Diversity Now his efforts to provide quality education for all students and to expand parent involvement.

2. Diversity Now requested and received data from the Burlington School District by race, gender on student performance, tracking, and disciplinary actions. For a copy of a preliminary analysis of that data, go here. We hope that this data analysis will become a starting point for discussions, that data will continue to be collected, analyzed, and relied on to shape policy.

3. We continue to engage in outreach, discussing diversity and inclusion issues in the school district:

• We met with Superintendent Collins to discuss, amongst other things, the pending recruitment for a new principal of the Integrated Arts Academy;

• We have met with members of the District’s Diversity Task Force to provide input and perspective on their goal of developing a strategic diversity plan;

• And we have met several School Board Commissioners, and with Dr Fayneese Miller, Dean of the College of Education and Social Services at UVM and Chair of the State Board of Education;

• We recently met with Commissioner of Education Armando Vilaseca.


The steering committee meets biweekly on Saturday mornings. The group has several new members, and includes the following:

Vince Brenna, Patrick Brown, Naomi Clemmons, Suzy Comerford, Naima Dennis, Kyle Dodson, Jill Evans, Janie Mardis, Marianne McCoy, Tuipate Mubiay, Stephanie Seguino, and Sherwood Smith.

If you have issues or concerns you would like to bring to us, feel free to email Patrick Brown (patbw@hotmail.com) .

Self-assessment tool for Burlington schools on ability to build bridges, support diversity

Some weeks ago, Diversity Now met with Burlington High School's principal to discuss strategies for assessing school climate. School climate is assumed by some to refer primarily to student behaviors, but our intent was to encourage the school's administration and teachers to be self-reflective about their ability to provide a supportive learning, growth, leadership and social environment for all students.

We were encouraged to learn that a climate survey is being discussed with plans for implementation this academic year. The survey, as we understand it, will be administered to students, parents, and teachers.

One self-assessment tool schools might adopt is titled "How Well is Your School Doing at Bridging Racial, Class, and Cultural Differences?"

To locate this document, click here