ANNOUNCING MRS. KAREN CARLSON PRINCIPAL OF JEFFERSON SCHOOL

On March 7, 2005, the Roxbury Board of Education unanimously appointed Mrs. Karen Carlson as Principal of Jefferson School.

Before accepting the position of Principal, Mrs. Carlson was the Supervisor of Applied Sciences for Grades Pre-K – 5 in the Roxbury School District.  As Supervisor, Mrs. Carlson was responsible for the coordination of curriculum development, textbook adoptions, staff articulation, staff development, home/school connection and formal observations of staff members.

When asked to reflect on her accomplishments as Supervisor of Applied Sciences, Mrs. Carlson highlighted numerous initiatives:  coordinating the implementation of new curriculums, textbook adoptions, and staff development for math and science, grades K – 5; bringing to fruition the vision of creating a web page, SHARE (School-Home Alliance for Reaching Excellence) to promote communication with parents; and chairing a committee of twenty four people to rewrite the Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Curriculum for grades K - 12.

Prior to becoming the Supervisor of Applied Sciences, Mrs. Carlson was a classroom teacher within the Roxbury and Belvedere School Districts.  Mrs. Carlson is married to her husband Ken, who is a professor at Rutgers University, and has three children; Melanie - a teacher of autistic children, Christopher – a computer systems analyst and Michael – a student, who will be beginning law school in September, 2005.

Mrs. Carlson states, “It’s amazing how simple it is to make a positive difference in the lives of others.  We all have the power to listen, to understand, to smile.  If we can nurture a setting of respect and kindness, then together we truly can accomplish anything.”

The Roxbury School District is proud to have Mrs. Karen Carlson as Principal of Jefferson School.