D27 Acting Superintendent Compson Welcomes the New School Year

By Katie McFadden

It’s back to school time for students, teachers and staff and District 27 Acting Superintendent Melissa Compson! As NYC public schools begin the school year on Thursday, September 4, The Rockaway Times spoke with Compson to discuss what’s in store for District 27.

Compson, a Deputy Superintendent for District 27, encompassing 50 Queens schools from Rockaway to Woodhaven, stepped into the role of Acting Superintendent in January, until Superintendent David Norment returns. But District 27’s schools are in good hands as Compson brings more than 25 years of well-rounded experience in education.

Compson said she always knew she wanted to go into education. “I wanted to be a teacher ever since I was a little kid, playing school. Something that connected with me is the creativity that you can have as a teacher. Also, the relationship building, knowing that every year you have 25 to 30 little people that you can connect with and get to know really well and help them to live their life, and that has become one of the major reasons I’ve stayed in education. I have my own kids now and I see how much a role education plays in their future and how every year their love for their teacher shapes them. There were many years as a teacher that I did that for kids, and I know that’s still happening across our district,” Compson said. “Teaching, for me, is a passion to support children and their entire families.”

Originally from upstate near the Finger Lakes, Compson went to SUNY Geneseo for undergrad and began teaching kindergarten at the elementary school that she had attended in Clifton Springs. But as a young teacher wanting to spread her wings, the big city was calling her. “I moved to New York City for the summer, and I guess I’ve never left since,” she said. For nearly 26 years, Compson has been working for the NYC Department of Education. She got her start in 2020, right here in Rockaway, at what was a stand-alone middle school, M.S. 198, that is now K-8 school, Goldie Maple Academy. “I started out in Far Rockaway. I was a teacher and assistant principal at Goldie Maple,” Compson said.

In 2014, Compson was entrusted with starting a Queens school from the bottom up. “I moved on to Ozone Park to be a founding principal of Queens Explorers Elementary School,” Compson said. The feat is something she calls her proudest accomplishment thus far. “For me, that was many years in the making, even though it was probably a six-month interview process, but it was more than that. The ideas that you have after teaching for a long time, the ideas that you have for a school that you could almost build by yourself for students, from the inside out, was a real creative challenge for me. Thinking about my passion for children and what’s in their best interest and creating a school that’s good for kids, good for their families, good for staff, a school that supports the whole community, that, for me, was my biggest accomplishment. It was an exciting time in my career. Being a principal was a position that I absolutely love. You can really make a difference in students’ lives, many students at one time,” Compson said.

Compson served as principal for six years, until she was asked to be Deputy Superintendent in 2020, an opportunity that left her with the difficult decision of moving on from the school she helped start, but presented her with a new opportunity to do even more. “With every opportunity, you think about what can be next and what can I learn and what else do I have to offer in education and to the kids,” Compson said. “I knew if I didn’t try something new, I would ways wonder what if. Now here I am as Acting Superintendent.”

Working 14 years in Rockaway and working as Deputy Superintendent, Compson has a good handle on the schools in the area. “The Rockaways hold a special place in my heart because it’s where I started teaching and started leading. I love being in the Rockaways,” she said. But as she’s been gearing up for a new school year as Acting Superintendent, Compson’s been diving in even deeper, working with local elected officials on ways to improve. “It’s great meeting with them and thinking of ways we can partner. I recently met with Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, and we thought about two ways we can partner. One is thinking about how we can expand swimming programs to students in the Rockaways and expand the resources families need to support these programs such as bathing suits and swim caps, along with swimming lessons and swim safety lessons. And then the other way is finding teachers and paraprofessionals who are available and looking for jobs and connecting them with the schools that are right for them,” she said. From that came the idea for a hiring fair on Saturday, September 6 at Pheffer Amato’s office, where principals will conduct on-site interviews. Compson has also worked with Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers on providing professional learning opportunities to teachers in the science of reading, so teachers are best prepared to help their students. She also has plans to meet with other officials across the district.

Looking to the new school year, Compson has certain goals for District 27. “Our goals really evolve around improving in ELA and Math. One area that we want to continue to improve upon and accelerate improvement, as we have seen positive momentum already, is the foundational reading for kids in kindergarten through second grade. We know that in school, you can’t succeed if you don’t have the grounding basis of those foundational skills. So, we are focusing on foundational skills. We want to improve in our practices, our teachers and our student outcomes.

“Another area we want to improve is in writing. We are adopting a district-wide writing curriculum this year, HMH Writing, which will connect to our district-wide reading program, HMH Into Reading for grades K-5, and HMH Into Literature for middle schools, so the writing component is being implemented for the first time this year. We really want students to have their eyes on text for reading, and then for students to write about what they’re reading and the connection between them is something we are leveraging as we implement our new writing curriculum.

“Our third goal is MTSS, multi-tiered system of supports and it’s a framework that provides supports for students that are on grade level, below grade level and far below grade level, so as a district we’re coming together to develop a system so students in each of those groups, have support to improve in reading and in math. We also have goals for civics for all, which really connects to being a global citizen and being educated in civics. We also want to increase and improve attendance,” Compson said.

Compson is ready to see it all in action as the school year begins. She said, “I’ve been looking forward to this. The team has been working with principals across the district from Rockaway, from Broad Channel, from the mainland. We have been partnering with teacher leaders from our schools to make sure we are prepared for our kickoff. We’re looking forward to welcoming our students to our schools, not only to teach them and support them in their learning but also to bring joy to their lives. There’s nothing better than for a child to say they’re happy and ready to learn. I will be in Rockaway and Broad Channel for the opening, and we’re really excited for the kickoff!”