GUILDERLAND — Supervisors are responsible for the "scholastic success" of the Guilderland School District, said Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Nancy Andress.

In October, the board ratified an agreement with the Supervisory Unit of the Guilderland Teachers’ Association, which applies to nine supervisors. The three-year contract, which begins this school year, includes a 3.85-percent raise each year.

In the first year, salaries range from $75,000 to $95,600.

Several school board members had requested a presentation on the work done by the district’s supervisors, and they were filled in last Tuesday.

A video, produced by the district’s media specialist Nicholas Viscio, showed a typical day in the lives of two supervisors — Demian Singleton, who oversees math and science at Farnsworth Middle School, and Lori Hershenhart, who oversees the music programs in all grades, from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Hershenhart talked about her "passion" for music which began with private oboe lessons when she was a child, since the public school in Brooklyn she attended offered none.
"I’m not teaching children so much...I’m mostly teaching teachers," she said of her current post.
Singleton, who said he came from a family of educators, echoed those sentiments. "I don’t think you ever really lose the teacher in you when you become a supervisor," he said.

Both supervisors said they start their days early, at 5 a.m., as they must scramble for substitute teachers if regular teachers have called in sick.

Hershenhart herself will substitute if a teacher can’t be found.
Singleton commented that there is "no such thing as a typical day." He also said of supervisors, "We’re the gatekeepers of a good, solid day."

Supervisors spend a good deal of time evaluating teachers, new teachers more than tenured teachers.
Hershenhart called evaluations "time-consuming but valuable."

She said she also maintains websites for the middle school and high school, and she spends a lot of time answering parents’ questions and concerns.

She attends 60 or 70 events every school year and, during the concert season, is out every night, she said.
Singleton said that administration of state-required tests is now "a significant piece of the puzzle."

A supervisor’s role, he said, is curriculum-based and instruction-based.
A crisis, he said, "creeps its head once in a while" and it is his job to support teachers when a crisis arises, either with a student or in their own lives.
"Sharing and collaboration is the richness" of the music department, Hershenhart said, and it would suffer without a supervisor.
"Areas of influence"
Andress outlines four "areas of influence" in effective supervisory leadership.
The first is influencing a school’s culture. "They find ways continually to create a positive school climate," said Andress of Guilderland’s supervisors.
The second is building and maintaining successful departments. "Supervisors must be skilled communicators who can handle resistance and change," said Andress.

Third is enhancing or improving student achievement, some of which is done by the teacher-evaluation program, said Andress.

Fourth is empowering teachers through professional development.
"They establish...a sense of connection," said Andress, noting that, "so much of teaching is really in isolation."

Patricia Hansbury-Zuent, who supervises high-school English and reading, said that a supervisor is part teacher, part problem-solver, part mediator, part parent, and part visionary.

She went over a 10-item list of supervisors’ responsibilities.
Teacher evaluation, curriculum and assessment, and professional development, she said, are tightly linked and "take up the great majority of our time."

Other duties include hiring; budgeting; scheduling; meeting with parents; communicating with administrators, the guidance office, custodians, the community, and local colleges; participating in activities beyond the school; and networking with other professionals, professional organizations, and the State Education Department.
"Pretty powerful connections can be made," said Hansbury-Zuendt.

She concluded that supervisors must maintain a balance between meeting larger goals and dealing with immediate issues.

"Supervisors are..."

Albert Martino, foreign-language and English-as-a-second-language supervisor for grades six through 12, discussed a half-dozen challenges faced by supervisors. He began each point with a witty one-liner.
"Supervisors are like social workers," said Martino, in discussing the challenge of a changing student population. In the last decade, Guilderland has become more diverse culturally, ethnically, and academically, said Martino; the number of students studying English as a second language has swelled.
"Supervisors are like detectives," said Martino, discussing the challenge of having so many new teachers.

The nation-wide graying or balding of teachers, he said, in a reference to his own head, has led to a growing shortage of math, science, technology, and foreign-language teachers. Finding qualified candidates takes detective kills, said Martino.
"Supervisors are like office managers," said Martino in discussing clerical assistance. Such assistance provides a critical link, he said.
"Their help and skills with data collection is invaluable," said Martino.
"Supervisors are like game-show hosts," said Martino, discussing the challenge of increased testing.

The tests require much preparation, he said, and supervisors must divine where the tests will be given and when, what the optimum test environment is, who will take the tests, who will get help, and who will score the tests, and how.
"Supervisors are ubiquitous,": said Martino, discussing the demands beyond the school day.

Supervisors attend athletic events, music concerts, and art shows, he said. They also attend classes to further their own education and they give workshops to teach others.
"Supervisors are like magicians," said Martino, in discussing the challenges of budgeting.

When desks fall apart, he said, supervisors find a way to borrow them from other rooms. When enrollment in a class is too high, they help the teacher design effective lesson plans, he said.
Martino concluded, that, as Guilderland supervisors meet these challenges, "Students will continue to get the finest education of any school here in the Capital District."

The other supervisors besides Hershenhart, Singleton, Hansbury-Zuendt, and Martino are: Lynn Wells, supervisor of language arts, reading, and social studies at Farnsworth Middle School; Julie Fitzgerald, high-school social studies supervisor; Michael Piscitelli, high-school math and science supervisor; Sheila Elario, art supervisor district-wide; and Wayne Bertrand, director of health, physical education, and interscholastic athletics. He is aided by Larry Gillooley, assistant director of health, physical education, and interscholastic athletics.