Ron Harvey has joined Matchbook Learning as one of our School Principals. He will lead our efforts at Merit Preparatory Charter School in Newark, NJ. Here's our interview with Ron below.
What led you to Matchbook Learning? Describe your journey here.
I had quite an interesting path to Matchbook from Philadelphia. I love being a school leader but unfortunately I haven’t been able to find a school and/or organization that I was able to truly set my roots with that had an aligned vision for how to support kids and teachers. I’ve worked in public schools, charter schools, big networks and small networks but once I met with the Matchbook Leadership Team, Board and teachers at Merit Prep, I was sold completely. This is truly a home for me where I can grow and develop as a leader.
What most attracted you to this position? What do you think will be the biggest challenge of serving as a Matchbook Principal? The thing that attracted me most to this position is the tremendous opportunity that exists to achieve greatness. Greatness in student achievement by meeting every student where they are. Greatness in innovation through blended learning. Greatness in turning around a school by proving that we can have an impact in changing the future of Newark and the nation through our work at Matchbook.
What are the keys to accomplishing a school turnaround? School turnarounds rely on the successful interplay of two dichotomies: patience vs urgency and structure vs flexibility. Successful school turnarounds effectively balance these four components under the umbrella of an unfettered belief that each student served has the potential to be great and more importantly deserves every stakeholder associated with the school to be great on behalf of students.
What are your goals for this next year? What are your expectations a year from now and how will you be different? My first goal is to lead and support Merit Prep to a successful renewal of our charter. Beyond that, what will drive me this year is to see each of my students achieve at least 1.5 years of growth in math and reading, to have all of them return and continue at Merit Prep, and to have all of my teachers return next year ready to take the next step toward greatness.
A year from now I expect to have a full staff, a full building with a 10th grade class and a brand new five year charter. I will be different because I will have a year under my belt in the Matchbook model and I hope to be able to publicly share about the achievements and merits of Spark and the entire Matchbook model.
Why should gifted educators consider working for a Matchbook school? There are many reasons why gifted educators should want to consider working at a Matchbook but two of the most impactful are: - The intensive level of support and development they will receive via the Directors of Personalized Learning and the Principal will most certainly improve the expertise of any teacher - The innovative culture we have will expose gifted teachers to multiple styles of teaching and learning to not only advance their pedagogical skill set but also provide an unmatched level of satisfaction in seeing their students grow. (Editor's note: please see our jobs page for opportunities to join our team)
Lastly, what do you like to do in your spare time? Offer a glimpse of who you are or what you are like outside of the working day.
In my spare time I have several hobbies. When I’m not in school I like working out, running, reading, playing video games and watching TV with my family. Sundays during football season, after church, you can be sure to find me watching NFL RedZone and deeply engaged in my favorite activity, FANTASY FOOTBALL!!!
