Saying the right things

An interview in today's Record with Teaneck High School's new principal, Angela R. Davis, brings some reassurance that the school is in good hands. This is no run-of-the-mill, business-as-usual, I'm-so-happy-to-be-here interview. Instead, Davis reveals a bold objective: to mold THS into one of Bergen County's "most prestigious academic institutions." Given some of the excellent competition in our area, this is ambitious, perhaps too ambitious for the three to five year time frame she has set. Nonetheless, it is a worthy goal, and stating publicly that this is a high priority should do a lot to raise the stock of Teaneck High School.

Why? Hasn't Davis just stated the obvious? Don't all schools strive for academic excellence? The answer is no. Some schools, especially those beset by the perception that a significant portion of the student body is struggling, set their sights lower. In fact, some posters on this site have suggested that the Teaneck schools ought to narrow their focus to basic skills and leave higher academic achievement to other school districts.

Davis appears to be saying that her tenure will not be about catering to the lowest common denominator, but about pulling everyone up by "role-modeling" and promoting "high expectations." Instead of letting the problems endemic to a subset of the school population dictate the agenda for everyone, Davis will continue to improve course offerings with the introduction of additional foreign language classes and a business program, while attacking one of the root causes for underachievement by making students see "that it's OK to be on the honor roll, it's OK get into college early."

This is the kind of positive thinking that could help restore the image of Teaneck High School, once one of New Jersey's most highly regarded secondary schools, in the eyes of the community and the rest of the state. Here's to Principal Davis translating her well-chosen words into deeds.