Park Avenue Principal Rosa Taylor Granted Tenure

Rosa Taylor of Park Avenue School is more than just a serving principal—she's a leader in improvement.

She was one of the guiding forces behind the facility's recognition as a Professional Development School this week. Other milestones she's hit so far with her staff and students include building a relationship with Manhattanville College, fine-tuning a dual-language program, and working hard to achieve better character education.

Just granted a tenure agreement to continue serving in her position for years to come, she started at the school in January 2007. She had been a bilingual teacher at Port Chester High School and at Edison's elementary facility.

"I expect many more years of working with my colleagues," she said.

Taylor says the needs of students change constantly. These in part are dependent on a myriad of different factors; immigration issues, the state of the economy, and the individuals themselves affect how an institution is run.

"Schools are organic—things change day-to-day," she said.

This is where Park Avenue's Dual Language Program comes in.

The school's demographics include 67 percent Latino students, and 33 percent who receive English as a second language services. So, the decision to add such a resource only made sense to help struggling students who may have been having a tough time keeping up with their classmates.

With a state grant, parent interviews, visitations to similar programs around the county and a lot of hard work, Taylor and her team now proudly assert they are helping educate all types of students under the school's roof.

Blanca Lopez, a parent of a child at the elementary school and vice president of the Board of Education, couldn't agree more with the principal's method of leadership.

 "[Taylor] keeps a level playing field for every student at Park Avenue. It's not just about education in mathematics and English," she said.

As a parent herself, Taylor had one strong focus when she was first appointed as principal: to help raise children with good characters. When she first met with parents, Taylor recalls, they told her that having respectable and responsible kids ranked up with good test scores in importance.

In the same vein, the school hired a full time social worker to meet the mental health needs of the students.

"The type of school we have is a product of our time—the students and families are different than the ones we had ten years ago," said Taylor.

Next up on the agenda, Taylor says she will continue to work on raising scholastic achievement and gearing the curriculum to best practices in instruction. She will also continue supporting the dual-language program, and working towards building the school's reputation for working cooperatively with the community. Park Avenue has a community-school coordinator, who helps facilitate clothing collections, food drives, and everything else involving Port Chester as a village.

Parent only have this experience with each of their children once, she said. "It's my job to make it rewarding."