
{"id":20092,"date":"2011-08-04T09:30:17","date_gmt":"2011-08-04T13:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=20092"},"modified":"2011-08-04T10:31:04","modified_gmt":"2011-08-04T14:31:04","slug":"forcella-takes-the-reins-of-chccs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/08\/04\/forcella-takes-the-reins-of-chccs\/","title":{"rendered":"Forcella takes the reins of CHCCS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_20093\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20093\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/08\/04\/forcella-takes-the-reins-of-chccs\/forcella2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20093\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Forcella2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Forcella2\" width=\"200\" height=\"257\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20093\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Forcella2.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Forcella2-113x145.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Forcella2-87x113.jpg 87w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Forcella2-77x100.jpg 77w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20093\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thomas Forcella<\/figcaption><\/figure>The first day of school after summer break is always a bit daunting for students, and even more so for those entering a new school for the first time. This year, a new superintendent joins those students as a new kid in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. <\/p>\n<p>The school board announced in April that it had selected Dr. Thomas Forcella as the replacement for Neil Pedersen, who had served as superintendent since 1992. Forcella began work on July 5, and this month he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll start his first school year at the helm of the district. <\/p>\n<p>Though Forcella has spent his entire career in New England, he said he was drawn to the district by its great reputation, as well as by two grown sons living in the South. <\/p>\n<p>He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already spent 32 years in public education, but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I still have a lot of energy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Forcella said, adding that he plans to spend five to seven years with Chapel Hill-Carrboro to close out his career in education. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I like the change. I like that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always something new,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the furthest thing in the world from routine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Prior to coming to Chapel Hill-Carrboro, he served as superintendent of Guilford, Conn., Public Schools since 2005, and before that as superintendent of schools in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. <\/p>\n<p>Forcella got his start as a high school special-education teacher. He earned an undergraduate degree in physical education and later went on to get his master\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in special education and a doctorate in educational management. <\/p>\n<p>After five years in the classroom, he spent seven years as an assistant principal, then six as a high-school principal. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I really enjoyed high schools. I always have \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just the activity that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. As a principal, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you can take a staff and motivate them to do some pretty neat things.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d  <\/p>\n<p>Though he enjoyed being in the classroom and in the schools, he wanted to create systemic change and knew that had to come from the district administrative level. He became an assistant superintendent, then superintendent.<\/p>\n<p>His style, he says, is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153very hands-on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And, he adds, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe in creating a collaborative culture.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p><strong>Challenges<\/strong><br \/>\nThe district\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s size will certainly be an adjustment for Forcella; Chapel Hill-Carrboro has nearly three times the number of students as Guilford Public Schools, which includes seven schools serving 3,900 students. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a big change in size,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said; however, the districts do have important similarities. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m finding is that a lot of the goals that the community has and the school district has are similar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to those of Guilford.<\/p>\n<p>Though the district\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s size will make it more difficult for him to show his face in all of the district schools on a regular basis, Forcella intends to be seen in the schools and the community as much as he can. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to get out to games. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 to be able to put a face to a name,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always been able to find time to talk to anyone who has a concern.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everyone has a right to be part of the process.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Moving forward, a big part of that process will be the development of the district\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new strategic plan. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153One of my challenges will be how you get input from all the stakeholders,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What kind of a district do we want to be?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Forcella looks forward to gathering that input and taking a hard look at the schools.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited about looking at the district as a whole,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. He hopes to hold a large-scale event in the spring to gather the community as a kick-off for the district\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new strategic plan. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think in order to create positive change, we need to create a sense of ownership,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p>\n<p>An obvious obstacle for the district is the state of the economy. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The challenge there is how do you take something negative and turn it into something positive,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Forcella said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It gives you the chance to take a hard look at what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing and see if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a better way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Throughout the superintendent search, community members, parents and teachers identified the minority achievement gap as one of the top issues facing the district today. Forcella hopes to approach that gap head-on. He believes an emphasis on classroom instruction and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153keeping the notion alive that we all can get better\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are the keys to closing it. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really about all kids learning at higher levels,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Forcella said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Intelligence is not stagnant. Effort creates ability.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really about all kids learning at higher levels,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Forcella said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Intelligence is not stagnant. Effort creates ability.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20092"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20098,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20092\/revisions\/20098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}