Troy School District Smith Middle School Timothy Fulcher Jennifer Hartenberg 5835 Donaldson Principal Counselor Troy, Michigan 48085 Amy Buchanan Ann O'Neill (248) 823-4700 / FAX# (248) 823-4713 Assistant Principal Counselor April 15, 2015 ‘To Whom It May Concem, Thave had the pleasure of working with Michael Cottone for the past six years through our efforts on the Troy School District Continuous Improvement team, We served together on the protocol committee and now both serve on the District Steering Committee for Continuous Improvement. In this service together I have found Michael to be an amazing asset to the district. He is knowledgeable about AdvancEd, the schoo! improvement process, and technology. He was instrumental in creating a podcast for our internal review process, which I lead for the district. He coordinated the taping and edited the podcasts together, using an easy website for all who were impacted to view the podcast. This was a creative way to provide information to many people without holding an organized meeting outside of the school day. He also creates our ‘Dummies’ guide, an informational packet of due dates, protocols and steps of completion for all the work due for AdvancEd and district school improvement. He puts this together on his own time and this packet has become integral to individual schools in order to understand compliances and deadlines for the many steps of school improvement. Michael also serves as building school improvement chair and runs the work at the building level. He volunteers as a visiting team coordinator for our internal review process, leading a team of stakeholders at a visit to another school in order to hear about their school improvement activities. This team provides feedback to the school to guide and encourage growth in the school’s goals and school improvement efforts. As a colleague, Michael is outstanding. He is a good listener and is considerate in discuss He is thoughtful in his responses and brings up interesting points of opinion and perspective. Asa teacher on the district team, he provides a voice from the elementary level. This is an element that provides balance to our steering committee. He is a motivated member of the team and comes through on anything he is needed to assist with or take on. Michael brings a calm, knowledgeable, and respectful presence to our steering meetings and is invaluable to the group. Michael would be an outstanding leader of a building because he is already outstanding in the roles he serves in as a teacher and district leader. His easy nature makes him approachable. He is ‘organized, has a good work ethic and is able to manage many tasks in a timely manner. Your district will be greatly improved with Michael in this position. ns. Sincerely, Alicia Wahls Internal Review Coordinator for the Troy School District Continuous Improvement Team, English and Health Education Teacher Smith Middle School