Ian V. Rowe and family
BOE Candidate Statement: Ian V. Rowe
Dear Pelham Community,
My name is Ian Rowe and I am pleased to announce my candidacy for re-election to the Pelham Board of Education. My wife Sylvia and I have been residents of Pelham since 2012, and we have two school-age children, Oscar (12) and Camille (14).
Serving most recently as BOE Vice President, I was honored to work with my colleagues towards achieving the Pelham mission statement, “Inspiring a Standard of Excellence for All Students.” Our team safely re-opened schools in 2021 for in-person instruction and when data showed pandemic learning loss, we worked with school administration to immediately add drop-in math tutoring and more interventionists.
During my term, I worked to establish annual District SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound) goals. To measure progress versus these goals, the district has taken real steps to implement a formative data dashboard, which uses new systems like Branching Minds and Dreambox to collect academic and behavioral data to effectively measure interim progress, replicate best practices and implement course corrections during the school year.
Like many residents, my wife and I moved our family to Pelham because of the great public schools and the high expectations its leadership holds for all students and faculty. After serving for three years, I am even more inspired to bring my professional experience to improving the lives of children.
For the last fifteen years, I have been CEO of non-profit NYC public charter schools. For the first ten years, I was CEO of a network of PreK-8 single-sex elementary and middle schools on five campuses with an annual budget of $45 million that included the development of an innovative PreK program in partnership with Sesame Street and comprehensive special education co-teaching in all elementary grades (something I would like to see replicated in Pelham).
Since 2020, I have been CEO of Vertex Partnership Academies, a virtues-based, International Baccalaureate (IB) public charter high school, grounded in the four cardinal virtues of Courage, Justice, Temperance and Wisdom. Vertex is one of the only public schools in the country that offers the IB Middle Years, Diploma and Careers Programmes. Through these world class offerings, students can choose multiple pathways to prepare them for their individual success, whether that be college, or real-world learning through work-study apprenticeships that can lead to industry credentials. I am hopeful Pelham creates more of these types of opportunities for our students.
The Board is now engaged in a five-year strategic planning process in which we are exploring exciting paths to strengthen our district, including upgrades to our facilities and making districtwide the accomplishments of PMS as a National School of Character and Colonial as a National Blue Ribbon School. We are also tackling roadblocks to the progress in our students’ academic achievement and mental health issues by looking at district wide ways to curtail immediate access to cell phones and social media during school.
I humbly ask for your vote on May 21, 2024 to serve another three years on the Board of Education to preserve continuity in overseeing execution of the strategic plan.
Improving outcomes for all kids requires an understanding of the habits of excellence practiced by faculty, parents and students, and then replicating that for all students. For more information on me and my candidacy, I welcome you to reach out to me directly.
With gratitude,
Ian V. Rowe
623 Francis Street
917-881-6908
irowe59@gmail.com
https://www.ianvroweforpelhamschoolboard.org