This is an article in this past Sunday's Reading Eagle about the retirement of Dr. Jeff Sparagana. Thanks to him for his leadership for all these years and for his continued involvement.
Joan Daly, former executive director of the Pottstown YMCA, recalled a meeting 11 years ago with Pottstown School District Superintendent Jeffrey Sparagana, then assistant superintendent, in which the seeds were planted for what would become one of Pottstown's most successful educational programs.
"At the time, I wasn't quite sure of the details," Daly said. "I knew in my heart, at that time, that it was something good because whenever you got involved with the Pottstown School District, it was good for the YMCA and good for the community."
"It's the best thing I've ever been a part of," she added.
The result of that meeting was a grant application that became the foundation for Pottstown's Early Action for Kindergarten Readiness program.
Sparagana established the program, and continued to promote and support it, helping it grow into a sustainable model that has attracted statewide notoriety and partnership with national nonprofit foundations.
"This was really a good idea about 11 years ago," Sparagana said. "We've really created, from that good idea, a comprehensive early learning system in the community that positions children to come into kindergarten ready, ready to learn, ready to achieve, ready to love school."
Sparagana, 63, will retire Thursday after almost 40 years as an educator and administrator, and the PEAK program may be his most lasting contribution to the district. The program has shown demonstrable improvements in student preparation for kindergarten, as well as improvement in parent involvement in a child's education.
"We've moved away from the model of telling parents, 'Here's how we're going to fix this,' " Sparagana said. "Instead, we invite parents and caregivers to the table to share with us their needs, their wants, and they help us to build programs that best fit their needs, not ours. We've made tremendous progress and demonstrated that we too can learn and grow."
Despite his retirement, Sparagana said his work with the PEAK program will not come to an end.
"I'm not a rocking chair kind of guy," he said. 'I'm looking forward to spending some time with my family, with my wife and daughter, and I also know that I'm going to continue with this work, with the PEAK partnership, no question. I'm very passionate about this type of work, and the things that are happening in the community."
"We are positioning the most precious resource in this community, or any community, for success, our children."
Contact Matt Carey: 610-371-5038 or mcarey@readingeagle.com.
Original article can be found here.
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