By Richard C Dujardin; Robert Gerardi Jr
NORTH PROVIDENCE — After three years as assistant superintendent, Robert J. Gerardi Jr. is leaving to become the superintendent of schools in Woonsocket.
The 45-year-old educator, whose father, Robert Gerardi Sr., was a superintendent in various communities, including Pawtucket, is comfortable with the prospect of taking over a school district with nearly twice as many students as the 3,500 in North Providence. .
“I’ve had experience working in very different communities, rural, urban and suburbs. I’m sure that [school officials in Woonsocket] will want to pick my brain to draw on the experiences I’ve had. At the same time, I’m looking forward to learning from them about all the great things that are going on up there.”
Gerardi credits North Providence School Supt. Donna Ottaviano with showing him the importance of working closely with all segments of the community, including others in town government. “She has a collaborative leadership style, and her success at that shows it’s the kind of style that works best for a school system.”
The other day, after members of the School Committee learned that Gerardi would be departing, they sang his praises, extolling him as a gentle and courteous man who would often be found working on projects late into the evening.
It’s part of the work ethic, he says, that he inherited from his father, who in addition to lots of other places over 45 years was Pawtucket’s schools superintendent from 1983 to 1989 and who, at 76, is now mentoring students at his alma mater in New Jersey. “The whole idea of working late, doing what you have to do to get the job done, I got from my father.”
But while Gerardi credits his professional success to his father’s work ethic, he credits his mother for his academic success.
Gerardi’s mother, a stay-at-home mom, was an Italian immigrant who saw public education as part of the American dream and whose deep love of reading was passed to her children.
Prior to coming to North Providence, Gerardi was principal at the Hugh B. Bain Middle School in Cranston. Before that, he was assistant principal at Tolman High School and Jenks Junior High School, both in Pawtucket.
The former technology teacher, whose first teaching assignment in Rhode Island was at Burrillville High, is also a craftsman at heart, having spent last summer installing vinyl siding on his home in Seekonk. A married father of three, he was awarded his doctorate in education from Boston College last year. The focus of his dissertation was using data from the statewide assessments given each year to students to improve learning in middle schools.
He says there are a number of achievements over the last three years which make him particularly proud:
– As assistant superintendent, he helped to introduce teachers to new software that allowed those teaching grades three to five to better interpret the results of the state assessment tests and to use it in their teaching strategy. As a result, he said, the percentage of improvement for students in those grades was three times higher in North Providence than the statewide average and nine times the regional average.
“We were able to get the software to help teachers teach more efficiently, and one of the things I like is that this initiative will carry on beyond my actual tenure here. The principals and the teachers enjoyed it so much that they want it to continue,” Gerardi said.
Of course, he said, he expects to find the same kind of interest in his new school district as well. “Woonsocket has an interest because they need to see their test scores rise as well.”
– Through a Learn and Serve America grant, he was able to get money for many worthwhile projects. One he was closely tied to was an Infant Literacy Initiative, in which mothers from North Providence who had just given birth were given literacy-care packages to encourage them to read to their newborns. Along the same lines, students in a creative-writing class wrote and illustrated stories that were read to children and sent to Hasbro Children’s Hospital. And, students in an American government class studied the events leading up to the current situation in the Middle East and sent 40 care packages to members of the Rhode Island National Guard stationed overseas.
Then there were the students from the National Honor Society who interviewed some of the town’s senior citizens then invited them to the high school for a spaghetti dinner, the showing of a video and the presentation of a hardcover book containing the interviews.
Gerardi said it’s true that teachers and students did most of the work, “but I was the guy who was able to find the money. I like to write grant applications, and when I see talented staff members for whom I can find a grant, I try to do it. I’m the middle guy.”
– Gerardi said he was able to garner several grants from the Rhode Island Writing Project to help teachers develop their own writing skills. The idea, he said, is that by teaching writing strategies to teachers and helping them focus on their own writing, “they become lovers of writing, so they can teach writing better. I think that’s why our writing and reading scores have been going up consistently.”
Gerardi also pointed to the introduction, during his tenure, of White Board Technology, a new interactive system that teachers can use during instruction to more accurately assess immediately whether the class is “getting” the lesson. If the students’ anonymous responses show they don’t fully understand, the teacher can provide more explanation, or if it shows the students are getting it, the teacher can move on.
“Which of these am I most proud of? I’m proud of them all,” he says. “North Providence is a wonderful community, and we’ve done some great work. I’ll miss all the friends that I’ve made here, and hopefully I’ll have as much success making friends with people in Woonsocket as I’ve had here.”
His last day on the job is Aug. 14.
“The whole idea of working late, doing what you have to do to get the job done, I got from my father.”
Originally published by Richard C Dujardin, Journal Staff Writer.
(c) 2008 Providence Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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