Davida Irving walked into the auditorium at Cranston High School East, went to the nearest person and shook their hand.
"Hi, I'm Davida Irving," she said.
She was a bit early for her public interview, so it gave her time to shake nearly every person's hand and introduce herself. It was as if she had just moved into the neighborhood.
And if she gets the job as superintendent of Cranston Public Schools, she'll be doing a lot more handshaking. Irving, the Superintendent of Foster Public Schools, said she would move to Cranston to be a part of the community, willing to invest her life in making the district the best in the state, and then, the best in the country.
"And I would not do that for just three years," Irving said. "I will say as long as you'll have me, my commitment [would be] to Cranston."
In her first 90 to 180 days, Irving said she would break apart her job into three tasks: see where things are, ask where they should go and figure out how to get there.
Several common traits are shared amongst high performing schools, Irving said. They have a staff that expects great things from every student. There are interventions in place. And the teachers are stable, having been there for a while.
New data systems can tell administrators exactly where there are gaps in student achievement. That data can be used to align curriculum, instruction and assessments so that students doing well are pushed to excel and students who are behind can catch up and achieve proficiency, Irving said. And maybe even excel.
"We need to make sure we know where [students] are and make sure there is growth," Irving said. "We can now calculate that and we need to do that."
To make Cranston the best in the country, it will require the partcipation of everyone, Irving said. All stakeholders will collaborate, so teachers will support students, students will support teachers, parents will support both students and teachers, and so on. That means there must be a clear and transparent communication system in place that promotes collaboration, Irving said.
"I believe we can get there," Irving said. "It takes hard work, energy and time and I expect to see everyone helping."
Iriving bucked the trend and said she did not put together a PowerPoint presentation for her public interview, opting instead to stand and face the audience equipped with only a microphone.
"You came here to see me, hear me," she said. "I thought the presentation would be a distraction."
Irving also kept herself to just 20 minutes of time to address the crowd, noting that she is "the time police" when she put her watch back on after she completed her presentation. The School Committee requested candidates keep their presentations to 20 minutes and Irving exactingly followed the letter of the law.
She also spoke as if she were already running the district, saying "we," "us," and "our district" throughout her presentation.
Today, districts are asked to do more and more with less, that's why fiscal responsibility is paramount, Irving said.
"We need to stop worrying about money and start talking about people," Irving said. "If you can have the dollars or you can have the people, I'd rather have the people. We can and will make a difference."
In Foster, Irving said she oversaw the painful elimination of bus monitors to deal with tight budgets and described budgeting as a "superintendent's nightmare" — perhaps an understatement for a city the size of Cranston, with dozens of schools and a budget of about $135 million.
Still, "a superintendent in a small district has the same responsibilities as a superintendent in a large district," Irving said. "The paperwork is the same. As superintendent in Cranston I'd take advantage of everyone on the leadership team."
Irving said that many years ago, she learned something about teaching. After she got her start, she went back to school and "was ashamed about the way I taught when I first started teaching."
The method was "drill and kill" and the teachers stood in front of the room and just gave the information.
"We didn't stop to see if they understood it," Irving said. "We thought our job was to teach. That's what we did."
Now, Irving said she takes her lifetime of skills to the classroom and actually asks teachers to let her teach certian subjects. She does it so the teachers can see her at work, how she uses certian strategies.
"It allows me to to provide special development in-house. It allows me to embed professional development and make sure it is ongoing," Irving said.
Irving has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a Master of Education in Social Studies from Wake Forest, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction from UNC. She has completed Post-Doctoral training at Pennsylvania State University and Providence College, in the area of Administration. She began her career as a College Professor before working in the Pawtucket, Block Island, and Foster School Departments. Dr. Irving currently serves as Superintendent and Principal in Foster.
"We will turn Cranston into a star where people come to see what we're doing well," Irving said. "To come and see why we are performing in every school, in every classroom, in every grade."