User:Maureen E. Davis-Havlusch

I graduated from Seton Hall University with a BA in English Literature in 1990. After a few years as the owner of an early childhood center, I earned my teaching certificate as a high school English teacher and spent many years as the lead English teacher in an alternative high school for at-risk, off-roll youth in a major NJ urban district. I earned my masters in Urban Education with a specialization in Educational Leadership from New Jersey City University in 2012. I am now certified for supervision/administration and passed the School Leadership Series exam (principal’s exam) in March of 2012. I am now working on a second masters, a masters in educational technology. Last year I changed school districts when another urban district offered me the opportunity to design an alternative high school program for them. I am now the coordinator of this program which blends traditional teacher-led instruction and technology-based independent study for non-traditional learners. The design for this new program is approved under New Jersey Administrative Code in a provision known as "Option Two" which establishes guidelines for alternative model high schools. My specific Language Arts teaching experience includes teaching English I, II, III & IV, Creating Writing, HSPA Prep, AHSA and American Novel 1 & 2. I have served as a novice teacher trainer and substitute trainer for the Professional Development Department of my prior school district, as well as serving as HSPA/ASHA coordinator for Language Arts. Before leaving my first district for my current district, I coordinated the efforts of a team of the district’s most well-respected English teachers in re-writing the district's Gr. 6-12 Language Arts curriculum to align with the Common Core and new NJDOE Model Curriculum. As aforementioned, I am currently the coordinator of the alternative high school.