Restoring the Roar: Jefferson superintendent has big plans for first full year on the job

Nelson A. Henry officially became the Superintendent of Jefferson Schools on May 1. Since then, he has been working to introduce himself to his new school family and getting to know Monroe County.

Earlier report:Jefferson names new superintendent

More:Monroe County schools at healthy staffing levels to start year

As Jefferson students return to classrooms for what will be Henry's first full year at the helm of the district, the longtime educator says one thing has already been made abundantly clear to him.

"This community bleeds blue and yellow (Jefferson's school colors)," he said. "They have a lot of pride, and that is good. So in addition to that pride, we want to make sure the school district is performing for them as well. We can have the pride in the business of educating children and setting them up for the future, but we want to make sure we have systems and processes in place, and checks and balances for those systems so that we're making progress and performing how we're supposed to on standardized assessments, in the classrooms, and on the field and court in athletics..."

Henry came to Jefferson after having spent last school year as the Interim Executive Director of Instruction for Romulus Community Schools. He served as that district's middle school principal from 2019-2021, and as principal and assistant principal at Pontiac Public School District prior to that. Before Pontiac, Henry served as the academic engagement officer and supervisor of elementary education for Inkster Public Schools.

In his first 100 days as Jefferson's superintendent, Henry held individual and group meetings with central office, building and community leaders, hosted a meet-and-greet for staff and community members, provided a lunch for civil leaders, participated in the commencement ceremony for Jefferson's 2022 graduating class, and organized the Jefferson Schools' Flier Distribution Days event, where central office staff and board members walked several communities to get the word out about the district to individuals, families and businesses.

Henry said that he picked up on a couple of common themes running through his conversations with community and staff members.

"A common theme among community members was refining our customer service; that was real big," he said. "We're working on that, responding to phone calls quicker and emails quicker. Communication was real big for the staff, knowing information basically before the dates or events sneak up on them. They coupled that with transparency, but I really believe you fix the transparency issue by communicating (more effectively)."

The coronavirus pandemic and school safety are two topics that no school administrator can ignore.

Henry said that Jefferson Schools will continue to monitor local pandemic data, as well as any recommendations laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"We do have COVID protocols already in place that have been updated from the CDC," he said. "...As tired as we all are of COVID, COVID is not tired of us yet, and we want to make sure we're using all of our resources... to make sure we're providing as safe a learning environment as possible for students, and working environment for staff members."

As for school safety, Jefferson is in the process of forming a district-wide emergency preparedness team led by its new school resource officer, which comes to the district via a partnership between it and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. The rest of the team will be comprised of staff members, and the district will also utilize an outside consulting agency to help them refine their emergency planning.

As the new school year begins, Henry says he's most looking forward to he, his team and the community "restoring the roar in Jefferson Schools." His plan is focused on changes and growth in academics, athletics and arts, and he says that district families should be able to see improvements in at least two of those three areas quickly.

"The arts will take a while," Henry said. "We have a five-year strategic plan to develop a fine arts department, visual arts department and performing arts, to make sure to boost all of those (elements)."

For more information about Jefferson Schools, visit https://www.jeffersonschools.org/.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Jefferson superintendent has big plans for first full year on the job