The daily workload and student engagement required by district teaching staff requires more than time and a passion for children’s education. It requires the support and counsel of a dedicated administration, focused on providing the best resources and achievement-focused programming possible to facilitate successful teaching experiences and help Clarke students achieve their academic goals. To help the district build programming and deliver teacher and student successes, the Clarke Community School district welcomes Dr. Stephanie Brown as Director of Teaching and Learning.
For the Clarke Community School District, Dr. Brown will guide teachers and staff at all three buildings, ensuring that curriculum and programming development meets the highest of standards and is delivered in an effective and efficient way. The Director of Teaching and Learning not only helps instructors design and develop the curricula for student success, but also helps build strategies and evaluate additional programming to help teachers and their students achieve more.
“Clarke’s students are lucky in that the district’s size and diversity allow for programming opportunities other rural schools may not have,” said Dr. Brown. “It will be my job to listen to our teams and help guide them to success with the best programs possible.”
Dr. Brown comes to the Clarke District with 25 years of educational and administrative experience, from pre-K through college and secondary level education. A 1999 graduate of Simpson college with a degree in Elementary Education and Liberal Arts, Stephanie went on to earn her Masters in Professional Teaching, Learning and Leadership also earning accreditation as Reading Specialist and Leadership and Administration Specialist. In 2020, Stephanie achieved her PhD in Educational Philosophy at Drake University.
As she was perusing higher degrees, Stephanie also held teaching and administration positions in districts across the state. From an elementary, 4th grade teacher at Harris-Lake Park Elementary in Northwest Iowa, to 16-years with the Norwalk school district serving in positions ranging from middle school language arts, gifted and talented, instructional coaching and literacy coaching to a position at Mercy College of Health and Sciences where she was a senior teaching and learning specialist. Her most recent assignment was as Assistant Principal with the Ankeny School District.
In her PhD studies, Dr. Brown surveyed 500 educational professionals and leaders across Iowa on the psychological capital necessary to help understand what makes a difference in an educational leader.
“{My} studies focused on what characteristics make a difference in an Educational Leader,” said Dr. Brown. “Out of options given – hope, optimism, resilience, and efficacy – hope and optimism ranked highest.”
Dr. Brown added that, while 2020 was when the pandemic went down, the overall weight the characteristics of hope and optimism had amongst the participants showed that leadership was a passionate and rewarding career path, one she was excited to help facilitate.
“I transitioned to Clarke to get back to helping teachers be more successful with their students,” said Dr. Brown. “Whether that means curriculum development, standard-writing and assessments, professional development, or helping with teaching practices, I believe that when teachers collaborate in professional learning communities, it has a significant positive impact on their students.”
Dr. Brown and the rest of the teams across the Clarke School District kick off their 2024-25 school year in the next few days and will be navigating and planning diligently for student success. According to Dr. Brown, Clarke teachers and administrators will be ready when the bright eyes of Clarke students look through their doors on their first days back.