DISTRICT OFFICE

PATTI J. LARCHE
Superintendent (Interim)
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
315-548-6475

July 15, 2017

To whom it may concern:

It is with ease, confidence, and pleasure and that I am able to offer my thoughts and information in
regard to Laura Van Laeken and the positive impact she provides to the Phelps-Clifton Springs
School District. I have known Laura from her first day of employment in our district in an
administrator-teacher relationship. In fact, I was the principal that hired Laura in 2001. Laura
was a highly effective fifth and sixth grade elementary teacher for many years and is currently an
AIS mathematics teacher. Laura and I have also worked together as colleagues on committees and
I was an administrative mentor for Laura while she worked on her degree in administration. In
each of her positions, Laura has always been a valuable colleague.

While talking with Laura, it will be immediately evident how much she enjoys working with young
people. Students naturally gravitate to her personality as she is friendly and energetic. At the
same time, she also makes sure that students are accountable for their actions and
responsibilities. Laura works well with every student. She has taught in general education
classes, AIS groups, and integrated classrooms. (Our integrated classes include students with
learning disabilities composing approximately half of the class.) While teaching integrated classes,
Laura teamed with a special education teacher and a teaching assistant. She co-taught with great
success. Teaching with diverse groups of students in several different settings gave Laura a strong
background in understanding the needs of students during her administrative studies.

When Laura decided that administration was her next educational goal, I became her
administrative mentor. As the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Laura worked side-by-side
with me on several projects and endeavors for a year. Laura jumped into the internship without
hesitation. Some of the projects had aggressive time schedules which Laura successfully met and
others required research and future projections which were also completed in a timely manner
and very well done. Laura quickly grasped the concepts set forth and aptly “juggled” the tasks to
appropriate her time accordingly.

Laura’s first task was huge! We started an e-initiative for personalized learning which involved a
tablet roll-out, training for all students in grades K-8 along with all of the teachers, teaching
assistants, and teacher aides in grades K-12, parent information distribution, an e-initiative
handbook, policies, and a district website update for our e-vision. The task took hours of planning
before the school year started only surpassed by the number of hours of training once we got
under way with the students’ return to school in September. Laura had a key role in all of the
tasks listed above and she was at times the sole leader of the tasks. Our e-initiative is not only up
and running but is also taking off!

1490 Route 488, Clifton Springs, NY 14432 Fax (315) 548-6429

Another large project that Laura worked on is professional development for our staff. For the first
time in many years, we decided to offer afterschool PD on a variety of topics to be taught by our
own staff members. Laura helped create a framework to offer many courses over a four-month
period. We brainstormed possible offerings with the staff and looked for staff members to be
teachers. Laura produced a master schedule, a course selection pamphlet, sign-ups, and followed
up with in-service hour documentation for each participant. Also, Laura taught some of the
offerings. Laura breaks her ideas into succinct plans, garners support for them, and follows
through with her colleagues to put ideas into action. She listens to her peers and takes their
thoughts and concerns into account. This was another very successful project which pleased our
staff greatly and had a majority of them participate!

A third large project that Laura headed up was our first ever safety week. As a district, the
administrative team felt that it was important to practice all our safety drills – some of which had
always been just words on paper. Laura worked with the administrative team to review our paper
instructions and updated them, planned a week for the drills, and prepared information for staff
and parents. After the safety week, she triangulated feedback from all buildings and helped
provide further updates for our new annual safety week.

Not to be remiss with the “smaller” projects in her internship, Laura helped teachers follow
through on their on-line BEDS form submissions by holding meetings and offering assistance. She
also helped with the building and district level BEDS forms. Laura worked on a schedule and
scorer enlistment for the 3-8 ELA and math scoring as we score our assessments in-house. She
also scored some of them and organized for scanning. Further, Laura helped administer and score
the NYSESLAT assessments. Laura also helped our district with teacher recruitment for the 2016-
17 school year.

Laura attended several meetings during her internship where she learned a great deal about the
different dynamics that occur throughout the district. She attended and contributed at meetings
in the following areas and levels: administrative, technology development, professional
development, teacher observations, hiring strategies, RtI, graduation pathways, RIC, and many
more. Laura gained at great deal of knowledge from the meetings and was able to connect her
newly acquired knowledge to the past and future to formulate the “whole picture” in many
different venues. She is very insightful.

Often, Laura and I met to discuss other district issues such as homelessness of students and
families, harassment of a staff member, certification problems for teachers, and more. It is easy to
talk with Laura as a peer as I trust her intuitiveness and her thinking. She has proven many times
over to be a well-rounded professional who is able to grow rapidly and learn continuously

Beyond the district, Laura is a driven learner as well. She attended the math cadre, led by the
University of Rochester, for the past few years to help our students better understand math in the
CCSS. Laura shares what she learns through the cadre with her fellow teachers to help them also
become more founded with math expectations. Further, Laura attended the NYSED math trainings
and several based at the W-FL BOCES site to bring back information and strategies to use in the
classroom and share with her colleagues.

1490 Route 488, Clifton Springs, NY 14432 Fax (315) 548-6429

Laura is a leader. She has been and continues to be a curriculum writer each summer. She works
on curriculum mapping and alignment, assessment development, and instructional practices with
her grade level and/or department teachers. She has been a member of the Character Education
Committee and the Vocabulary Committee in her building, a teacher mentor for new teachers, a
grade level chairperson, a sponsor teacher for local college student teachers, a member of the
Professional Development Committee and a designated Teacher Leader with the charge of moving
the organization forward through: communication, data, and character development. Laura also
commits time after school hours and during vacation breaks to continuously learn through book
groups, book blogging, and Twitter.

Along with everything administrative, Laura was a part-time AIS teacher last year in a new AIS
program. We are building the AIS program daily and Laura’s input is helping the district define
what a successful AIS program should look like. Laura clearly has the vision needed to further our
commitment to higher educational achievement for our students and has a driving desire to make
each child successful in school while she is by their side throughout their learning journey.

Laura has confidence in herself and her work. However, her confidence does not overwhelm the
people she works with as she takes time to listen and learn from others. I have seen Laura grow in
her leadership capacities in many ways. She is very detailed and thorough in her work. Laura
works with any given person or group of people in a respectful manner and guides the process
toward the intended goal. She is an educational leader who strives for excellence in all that she
does. I believe that Laura will positively touch the lives of young people no matter what
educational position she holds because she not only teaches children, but she also learns from
them! She will impact a school district professionally and personally as she shows great strength
in her work ethic and truly wants what is best for kids.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss Laura’s qualifications or should you need
further information.

Patti J. Larche
Superintendent (Interim) and Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Phelps-Clifton Springs School District

1490 Route 488, Clifton Springs, NY 14432 Fax (315) 548-6429