By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Superintendent of Botetourt County Public Schools (BCPS) Dr. Lisa Chen updated the Botetourt County School Board about a new partnership between the division and a professor from James Madison University (JMU) last Thursday at the board’s monthly meeting.
Dr. John Almarode serves as the executive director of teaching and learning at JMU. Through the partnership, the division will receive numerous sessions with Almarode.
“I’m very, very excited for this because when you have a partnership with a university professor who is world-renowned and you combine research with practice, it only helps everyone,” Chen said.
Almarode works closely with Dr. John Hattie with Visible Learning, a method that enhances the role of teachers as they become evaluators of their own teaching, including seeing learning through the eyes of their students and help them become their own teachers.
While serving as assistant superintendent at Louisa County Public Schools, Chen established a working relationship with Almarode. At that time, he was under contract with Corwin Press, which meant that it would have cost roughly $24,000 to bring him to Louisa County.
“The fact that our administrative team will have access to him on a monthly basis, as well as our teachers, is huge for us,” Chen said. “It’s only going to propel us to the next level.”
Chen noted that she hopes that the division will be able to maintain a partnership with him for the foreseeable future.
“Thank you for landing him in that capacity. We’re very appreciative,” Michelle Crook, chair of the School Board, said.
Dana McCaleb, who represents the Fincastle District on the School Board, said, “I’m very excited because he is a big deal internationally.”
