THE FRONT Q&A
A NEW CITY LEADER FOCUSED ON EDUCATION JENNIFER GLASGOW IS LITTLE ROCK’S NEW CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER.
I think an outcome of the pandemic that we realized was how we rely on our education system as childcare, for good or bad. So I’m trying to research and find out what would be a way to support that. You hear anecdotally about moms leaving the workforce because there wasn’t an appropriate childcare option, but it’s not just important so mom can go to work. It’s important that those children are on track to be kindergarten ready, to be reading by third grade, to graduate from high school. BRIAN CHILSON
Jennifer Glasgow was named chief education officer of the city of Little Rock in April. She succeeds Jay Barth, who left to take a job leading the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. Barth inaugurated the position in 2019, and since then much of its focus has been on community schools, a joint effort between the city and the Little Rock School District. Community schools provide “wraparound services” like dental and health care, tutoring and family support for students, their families and the surrounding neighborhoods. The first four community schools — Chicot, Stephens, Washington and Watson elementary schools — started offering these extra services in September 2020. Thanks to a two-year state grant, Mabelvale elementary and middle schools will become community schools this fall. We spoke with Glasgow about her background and vision for directing education policy for Little Rock.
What is the city’s commitment to community schools? The city has committed $500,000 [per year] toward community schools. But we also applied and received a Byrne Grant FAVORITE BOOK? through the Department of Justice, with the Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights.” goal of reducing violence with communityREADING ANYTHING GOOD RIGHT NOW? led initiatives instead of police-led. That “Parent Nation” by Dana Suskind. It’s about how is focused on Stephens Elementary, which to support families of children from birth to 5, how is connected to the Stephens Community to make it easier to be a parent. There are a lot of Center, which makes it kind of a unique space. challenges for all parents, some more than others, The grant will provide two social workers who and this is about how to get the support they need, will get to work with the students, but also whether through policy change or other. with community members. Then in the fall What’s your experience in education? we’ll be collecting community input to find FAVORITE PLACE TO TRAVEL IN ARKANSAS? Most recently I was with an organization out what they are interested in. As far as the Greers Ferry Lake. called Excel by Eight, formerly the future, I think it comes down to what schools Arkansas Campaign for Grade Level would want to become community schools. Reading. The goal of that organization Leadership at all levels has to want that, all the was to get kids reading on grade level way down to the principal, they have to feel by the end of third grade, because that’s when instruction transitions. like that’s a good fit for their students. If you’re struggling in reading by fourth grade, you’re going to be struggling across the board. So we looked at things that worked outside How do you address skepticism about city involvement? Some of the classroom, making sure kids were kindergarten ready, making wonder why the city needs to be involved with education at all. sure that parents were engaged and [encouraging] attendance. We also In anything, especially something using tax dollars, you’ve got to show shifted a lot of our focus on birth to 3 because we found that there was your value. That’s something I’m working with the district on. We little awareness about how important that was. The most significant know what we should be measuring, so how do we start collecting that development of a child’s brain happens before you turn 3, and a lot of data? It’s not just attendance and test scores; there are other ways to that is language and literacy before they’re even talking. measure success. I think some of that is engagement, and just taking it a little step beyond families served. So you know, if 10 kids went to the To the extent that Little Rock residents know what the city’s chief vision clinic, and eight of them got glasses, right, we can measure that education officer does, they probably mostly think of the community and talk about it. Some of these grants that the city has received, the school partnership with the LRSD. But there’s more to the job, right? fact that it’s a city/district partnership is what makes us so competitive. Community schools are a big part of it, certainly, because there’s just I think it makes our applications compelling to show that we’ve got this a lot going on to talk about. Because of my background, I am actively united front. looking for ways that the city can support families from birth to age 5. — Mary Ruth Taylor ARKTIMES.COM
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