Mary Quigley

Spirit of Support Award 2008

Submitted by Beth O'Connor

It is said that it takes a village to raise our children. Behind every thriving village, there is a strong leader who promotes a sense of compassion and respect. And there are few better examples of this than Mary Quigley, Principal of Washington Avenue School (WAS) in Chatham, NJ. In Mary’s ‘village’, our son Keith has found a place where he can celebrate his differences and work on his challenges.

As a parent of an eight-year old who happens to have Aspergers, I am all about planning and communication. I need to know what is around the next corner so I can prepare all of us for whatever curveballs may come our way. But Mary has taught our family to let go of that tight reign and to allow Keith to build his own toolbox of ways to handle difficult situations. I know that whatever happens during the school day will be handled calmly, fairly and with dignity for all. What more can a parent ask?

Mary is able to ‘think outside of the box’ and encourages our district to do the same. A few examples of Mary’s creativity:

• Keith attended a full-day kindergarten at another school. At the start of that year, Mary reached out and invited Keith to attend after school activities. She also made sure we received the school newsletter each week so Keith would feel part of the school community even before attending.

• Since the private kindergarten had a different calendar and ended earlier, Mary invited Keith to spend the last few weeks of the year in his first grade classroom, with the teacher he would have the following year. While it was hard getting him into the classroom in June (those transitions are never easy), it made a huge difference the following September. Keith walked into school with his head high. Instead of the inevitable meltdown in front of his new classmates, Keith was able to calmly start first grade – what a gift for all of us.

• Mary attends every IEP meeting we have and provides objective insights into Keith’s school day needs. This practice goes well beyond Keith - she takes a personal interest in each and every child.

• Mary started a co-teach program (general and special ed teacher pairings) at WAS which hopefully will become a district-wide model so all children can benefit from inclusive instruction. And when our district received a state grant to start a program for children on the Autistic spectrum, Mary was right in there – requesting that the program be set up in her school and providing oversight to make sure it was successful.

Mary gives her teachers the room to learn and explore. Mary’s value of innovative practices reflects directly on her staffing decisions in both the general and special ed teachers populations. Mary encourages her staff to find creative solutions. When I recently sent her Dan Coulter’s article, Writing Off Kids is Not an Option, it was in every teacher’s mailbox that same day.

Mary signs her emails with the following quote:

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly."
-- R. Buckminster Fuller

Wouldn’t this world be a better place if all villages were led by such visionaries?

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