Superintendent Reaches Out to NUSD Community

Newark’s new schools superintendent has issued his first letter to the public through the Newark Unified School District website.

Dave Marken was selected by the Newark Board of Education at . His contract is a three-year term that expires on June 30, 2014.

Soon after his appointment, Marken and talked about the top priorities he has as incoming superintendent.

Read his letter below.

To the Newark Community:

I am both greatly honored and truly humbled to join this community as the Newark Unified School District’s new Superintendent. We have an outstanding educational organization in Newark. I’ll be joining an excellent team focused on student learning and instructional practice, which directly translates into academic achievement. That achievement hits at the heart of my educational core value. I wholeheartedly believe that every student can learn, and that the role of every educator is to ensure that every student does learn.  

In my career, I have had the privilege to fill a variety of roles in education: Teacher, High School Vice-Principal and Principal, Sr. Director of Student Services and Assistant Superintendent of both Curriculum/Instruction and Human Resources. There are similarities between Newark and my prior district where I spent my last 13 years. Because of that experience and familiarity with this district, I want to assure you there will be little “down” time during this pivotal transition.  We will be continuing the ongoing work and achievements of our outstanding staff and excellent schools.

I am also a realist. Our state’s budget crisis forced our district to make millions in cuts to personnel and programs for the 2011-12 school year. This reduction is in addition to the already millions of dollars in cuts made prior to this upcoming year. That equates to an overall 25% general fund reduction. 

The state and national economy, the California Legislature — not our school board or administration — have driven and deepened this crisis. As a leadership team, we have no desire to make these cuts which directly impact our students and staff; however, we must have a balanced budget. In these challenging times, we need to continue to pursue additional sources of revenue and carefully scrutinize all expenses.

Student achievement, high academic standards, respect for our diversity, developing strong instructional practitioners and building strong community support reinforces the work for which I am most passionate.

I think you ought to know that you’re going to be seeing a lot of me. I’ll be around both our schools and our community. I truly look forward to meeting with students, parents and staff at each school, as well as other groups in our community. I’ll be listening to all of you, to better understand the programs, initiatives, concerns, goals and dreams. In fact, during my first 90 days, I am looking forward to visiting every classroom in our school district. And when you see me around town, please take a moment to introduce yourself, and always feel free to contact me at dmarken@nusd.k12.ca.us.

Again, I am truly honored and humbled to be joining this great community with outstanding students, teachers and staff! 

Sincerely,

Dave Marken, Ed.D.

Superintendent