Robert Copeland, who most recently was superintendent at Piscataway School District in New Jersey, took over as the new superintendent at Neshaminy School District on Oct. 1, 2012. Copeland lives in Mercer County, about 12 minutes from his office in Maple Point and believes in being a “visible” and engaged superintendent and has had the opportunity to meet all the principal’s and visit each school in Neshaminy.
Copeland was named Superintendent of the Year by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators and has a long past in education administration and as an educator. The school board voted 8-0 to enter into a three year contract with Copeland as superintendent of Neshaminy School District.
Before Piscataway he was an Assistant superintendent in Teneck, New Jersey for three years, an Area superintendent in Newark, New Jersey, an Elementary principle for 5 years in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and an Assistant Principle and teacher in Princeton, New Jersey. Copeland went to college at the State University of Brockport in New York and went to graduate school at Rider University and Seton Hall.
Copeland has been married for 25 years and has a son and daughter; Christian who is 22 and Halle who is a freshman in high school.
“One thing I’ve learned is that you need to experience first, and change has to be mutual, my focus right now is on getting familiar with Neshaminy,” Copeland said. Copeland has been to multiple Neshaminy High School games, including homecoming, and holds “Breakfast with the Superintendent” which he holds on Saturday mornings at 9:00 am, the next meeting is on October, 20 in the Board Room of the Administrative Offices.
In Piscataway Copeland used a “Balance Score Card System” but has switched over to a “Dashboard System.” They both share the same idea of establishing measurable results of progress, Copeland believes in “keeping track of how well you’re doing.”
The “Balance Score Card System” was originally developed for business, as an approach for measuring an organization’s health. It enables its users to employ data not only to measure past performance, but to assess how well the firm is positioned for the future. In public education however the “firm” would be the school and the people in the “firm” would be the students and such.
The difference between the “Balance Score Card System” and the “Dashboard System” lies in the format. Scorecards show the quality of an operation while a Dashboard shows calculated direction. However the Scorecard and Dashboard system are so closely related they are almost interchangeable with one another; they were both designed for tracking a business’s progress and displaying it but up until recently public schools have started using these systems.
Between the Pennsylvania and New Jersey educational system there are different laws but they have the same common core standards. The teacher’s contract issue simply cannot be avoided, however Copeland believes that it is so far along that it will not be his main focus but if asked he will be involved. Copeland plans on having regular discussions with the community, “I want the community to be able to look back when I leave and say we are in a better place than before,” Copeland said on what he wants the community to think of him after his time at Neshaminy.
“To move forward is a collective effort, not just one person, everyone needs to be brought together,” Copeland said. Copeland believes in bringing together the parents, teachers, and the administration in Neshaminy and listening to the community as a collective voice.
Board member Mike Morris headed up the committee that was responsible for finding a new superintendent after Louis Muenker retired. Morris, in a special public board meeting, said he expects strong leadership from Copeland. Morris also said that he expects Copeland to bring accountability to every staff member at Neshaminy. “That includes himself,” Morris said. “We want him to hold himself accountable, too. And we think he will.”
