BY CONNOR McMANUS
She sits at a desk swamped with papers and pens, working diligently to prepare for a new day in a new career. Shannon Kromer has made the leap from junior high to high school. She is a high school first-year. Again.
Many remember Ms. Kromer from her days as the teacher of a rigorous junior high English course. If they don’t, two words will often jog their memory: Silas Marner.
With the retirement of Ms. Schmidt, who acted as part time Curriculum Director for a portion of the district, a new position was opened at MHS. Ms. Kromer was hired to fill this position and now holds the title Director of Curriculum and Instruction.
Ms. Kromer says the position involves much administrating and coordinating between all of the grade levels at all the schools in the district. As Director of Curriculum, she verifies Mariemont’s alignment with national curricular standards, eliminates repetition of material between grade levels, and analyzes data from standardized tests to check for deficiencies in learning.
The Instruction aspect of her title involves teaching teachers. She helps Dr. Renner with professional development to improve teachers’ abilities to teach. This part of her job ranges from researching and experimenting with teaching techniques, implementing new technology in the classroom, and organizing curriculum to make learning expectations clear.
“I’m really excited. This makes perfect sense to me because teachers will benefit from someone to help sort through data and implement change based on that data,” says Kromer.
Dr. Renner, who was on the committee that interviewed the potential hires, confirmed his satisfaction with the new Director.
“Some of the applicants we interviewed specialized in math for 7-12, some specialized in reading for K-4. Because of where Mrs. Kromer taught, she has a good balance,” Renner said.
Dr. Renner also remarked on the importance of this new position with the movement away from traditional textbooks and paper.
“If we didn’t have this position, teachers would simply start on page one of the textbook and go. Ms. Kromer allows us to be precise in what we’re teaching and when. With the movement away from books, she will help design the courses and find new resources,” he said.
Despite the significance of Ms. Kromer’s new position, the current curriculum won’t be receiving any sweeping overhauls. Because her job mostly involves streamlining and improving a pre-existing set of courses, students have no need to worry about prominent changes in workload or class material.
Dr. Renner stated that, ultimately, this new job is about adaptability.
“Curriculum needs to be a living, breathing document. We want to have success, but not just because we were fortunate enough to choose a good textbook series,” he said.
Both he and Kromer are confident that she can contribute to that success.
“We’re happy to have her at the high school,” said Renner.
