Here's what Dr. Omotani had to say:
Nassau Herald: To begin, please give us some background on the district.
Superintendent Les Omotani: We have about 3,400 students in the school district attending five schools - Franklin Early Childhood Center, Ogden Elementary, Hewlett Elementary, Woodmere Middle School and Hewlett High School. I really think that what we're focused on is ensuring that the entire pre-k through 12 educational experience is as good as it can be for our young people. ... I think the other part of what we're focused on is really to give our students the breadth and depth of what we call the four A's - academics, activities, athletics and the arts. We want them to experience that full range of options and we believe that our school system can give students the kind of breadth that they need to be highly successful as they go onto college and through life.
NH: Are there any specific goals that you've set for the district?
LO: Rather than establish a long list of goals, the Board of Education and administration really focused on creating a collaboration and a shared vision that encompassed the hopes and dreams of our entire community of learners. This shared visioning process engaged literally thousands of people, including students. Students were involved in the actual synthesis of the final statement and, in fact, it was two of the students on the synthesis committee that presented the final vision statement to the Board of Education. And their input was really good. They read through all of the submissions from all of the staff and parents and they were part of the collaborative committee.
We really wanted to know what people's own aspirations were, what they thought we should be doing here and we wanted the vision statement to be one in which people could see their own focus and dreams and their own commitment into what we were trying to become. And you'll see that becoming a caring learning community is a central piece of everything that we talk about. What I often will say is that we're about becoming one of the most caring learning communities in the nation, and I really do believe that if we take care of everybody - the little people and older people - that the right things will happen.
NH: What makes the Hewlett-
Woodmere District so special?
LO: We really do believe that we've got the best of both worlds. We're the right size school system where we can offer this incredible breadth of programming that we do at Hewlett High School and at the same time we're not so big that we can't get to know our students and our families and really offer them personalized attention and support. I try to spend as much time as I can in schools, in classrooms, at activities and events and so the nice thing for me is I know the kids, I know the families and that's true of all of our staff and our faculty. We really think that the more personalized we can make this experience, the more meaningful it will be for them, and the more successful we'll be.
NH: What do you attribute to the
success of the district?
LO: I believe that if you've got really high quality, successful schools that they owe a significant part of their success to existing in a vibrant community. People live in Hewlett-Woodmere because they want their children to go to real high quality schools. That's why people move in here. It's why people are here. We have multi-generations of graduates and great, great grandparents who graduated from Hewlett-Woodmere.
And I think it's a mutual benefit, a symbiotic kind of relationship. If we've got a vibrant community we'll have high quality schools, and if we've got high quality schools the community will remain vibrant as long as they stay connected. So that's what a lot of our effort has been in terms of saying, look everybody who is a member of our community whether they send their kids to public or private school is part of our community. And so we've really tried to put an emphasis on that.
NH: What would you define as
the school districts most recent
successes?
LO: The list is huge. But I guess what I am proudest of is that 96 to 98 percent of our students go on to college, and they do very, very well. Our success rate is really good. We're so focused on ensuring that every student we have is successful and it's not just about academic scores. They do very, very well academically, but we believe that they leave us as graduates having had the opportunity to expand what their talents and interest areas are - whether in activities, in leadership, in the arts and in music and athletics -- whatever their interest areas might be. And so I think what I am most proud of is that our students, in their educational experience, develop this love of learning and they prepare not only to be successful in their continued learning, but they are prepared to be successful in life. They are going to live a high quality life because of what they have been exposed to at Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools and so we've always tried to keep those things in balance.
NH: What expectations do you have for your students?
LO: It's almost a given that the expectation is that they will be highly successful academically. And that becomes, for us, simply a base expectation. And even when, or if, the community becomes more diverse, we're still saying our expectations won't diminish. We have great kids and we have parents who come here with the highest of expectations for their children. It goes back to what I was saying earlier, I really do believe that families move into Hewlett-Woodmere because they understand what the reputation of the school system is. I just met a family last week that said, 'We're here because we know this is one of the best school systems in the state and the nation.' And I said, 'All you've got to do is make sure that your son and daughter participate, get involved, take advantage of what we have and show up and sign up for what we have and we'll work together on what you want.'
NH: What are some of the new
initiatives in the district?
LO: I think we do some things where we are not just satisfied to keep doing things the way they were. Last year we started piloting a technology initiative where we had 45 students at Hewlett High School using tablet PCs in a wireless environment as part of their regular tools of learning. This year, some time in October or November, each one of our senior students will have a tablet PC that they will have access to on a 24 by 7 basis, and Hewlett High School is wired to be that anytime, anywhere environment now.
Our goal is that in each subsequent year an additional grade level will acquire that technology, so next year it will be the 11th graders and then the 10th graders and then the freshman. Again, we just believe that it is our responsibility to help them learn how to use that technology at school. Almost all of them will go on to continue their studies in a college environment, and we feel that we're going to be preparing them well - if they had daily experience using technology, rather than just every once in a while in the course of a day. I think there is a real difference having something like a tablet computer available to you 24 by 7.
We really do believe that anytime, anywhere access is a skill. We believe that it changes the way that they write and think about writing. It certainly changes the way they do research. And we want them also to develop an attitude of responsible accountability about how to use the technology, and we think that the best way to do that is to give them ongoing experience with it.
We have smart boards that we are installing in all of our classrooms. Even the smallest child now can go up and manipulate the technology and tell you how it works. It's just a part of how they learn and live and do their work. We think it's an exciting part of preparing for what they're going to experience in the future. We're being very strategic about it. We didn't want to just throw the whole thing out there. We're taking our time and trying to do it in a very thoughtful and responsible way.
NH: If you could improve one thing in the district, what would it be?
LO: I think we're working on a lot of fronts, and like I said we're always improving. I think that if you go around the district you will see us paying attention to the entire infrastructure in the school system. With the community's support we passed the bond for the Woodmere Middle School. You'll see the new gymnasium going up now and last summer we completed the roof repair, which had been the sore spot of facilities in the school district for a long, long time. And as we go about doing these things, we're looking at how we might not only take care of the core infrastructure, but create new learning experiences and opportunities.
It's not just about fixing what's there, but it's also about talking with the faculty and students about what kinds of learning needs they have. So, I guess my answer would be that as we think about the future, I hope we continue to look at what there is about our educational programs that we want to remain forward thinking about and not just try to keep doing the same things better. Also, to make sure that what we are offering to students, in terms of learning experiences, are meaningful and relevant for their future studies and throughout their lives.
NH: If you could define the district in a few
sentences, what would they be?
LO: Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools is a caring learning community and that's what we're dedicated to - the development of every one of our individual students' academic, artistic and athletic abilities. And then it goes beyond that, in terms of saying that we also want to cultivate character and we want to celebrate the successes. We don't want students or faculty or staff to have worked really hard, demonstrated achievement and then nobody applauds. We want their to be lots of standing ovations and so at our board meetings you will see that we take a significant amount of time to recognize and celebrate successes that happen at our schools.
I really think that it's about this caring learning community. I think I've got the greatest job in the world. I am in a place where we have these wonderful children, who come to us as students, with parents who have the highest expectations of what they want for their young people. And then we've got faculty and staff who are here because they want to fulfill this vision, they want to do the very, very best for the children in our community, and it's just a really nice culture.
NH: What kind of message would you like to get out to the community about the district?
LO: What I would like to make sure that everyone continues to understand is that Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools continues to be sincere in its commitment to listen to the community and to create two-way communication channels, so that we're not just sending out information, but that we're creating more ways for people to be able to make sure that we hear what they would like both for the children, for themselves and for our community. We're not just about leading the school system; we know that we are integral part of the community's future and we care about that. It is our goal to make sure that the entire community does well and that everyone in the community feels supported in what their aspirations and their hopes and dreams are.
We understand how important this is, and that's why every member of our leadership team is absolutely committed to that two-way communication.
Paul Shapiro and Evan Nemeroff conducted this interview with the superintendent.
