Marissa R. Gordon

My name is Marissa Gordon and I have been an educator for ten years in a variety of settings and roles. I graduated from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts and certifications in English Adolescent Education grades 5-12 and Students with Disabilities grades 7-12. I received my masters from UAlbany in Curriculum Design and Instructional Technology and graduated in May 2021 with my School Building Leadership certificate. In May 2022 I completed my School District Leadership certificate and will take my certification exam in December 2022.

Currently, I am the assistant principal at Gloversville Middle School. I have proven my dedication, professionalism, and desire to improve my leadership practices while navigating my position and the complexities of becoming a mom for the first time. My ability to embrace new challenges and opportunities is a strong characteristic of my leadership. At Gloversville, I have made a concerted effort to understand the needs of the community and how to best serve our students. Through numerous home visits, hours spent in classrooms, and attending various school events, I have built positive relationships with many of our students and their families. This has been beneficial when supporting our students regarding their academic path and any type of discipline they experience.

At Gloversville Middle School I created the Summer Learning Academy, which has been highly successful. Students work in a collaborative environment that is centered around essential skill building through engaging learning opportunities. I was able to secure partnerships with outside agencies, including The Family Counseling Center and the Gloversville Public Library, to design SEL activities to help address the social and emotional needs of some of our most challenging students. Additionally, my time spent in classrooms has allowed me to develop trust with teachers and provide quality feedback to them in order to improve instructional strategies. I feel as though my knowledge regarding instruction has been valuable while navigating our New York State Comprehensive Support and Improvement designation and the goals associated with our School Comprehensive Education Plan.

Prior to working in Gloversville, I was a middle school teacher at Mohonasen Central School District. Completing my administrative internship for my School Building Leadership certificate during the height of the pandemic was the most profound learning experience of my career. I completed more than 600 hours of internship experience with my building principal, including facilitating the new after school tutoring program, helping create the building reopening plan related to COVID-19 safety protocols, and working with district leaders to reimagine the master schedule when students were attending school every other day.

In addition to my duties as the building intern, I served as the co-chair of the Instructional Technology Committee. During the period of full-time remote learning, I offered weekly professional development sessions to my colleagues. My proudest accomplishment at Mohonasen was being a founding member of the team that created the Student Turn Around Room, which was a restorative setting for students who struggled in their learning environment. The “STAR” was a place for students to take a break, express their frustrations, and discuss strategies to make it through the rest of the class period. Based on a data collection system I designed, it was deemed to be highly effective for staff and students. I was able to replicate and build the STAR into the master schedule at Gloversville; it is being piloted for the 22 - 23 year.

I reside in Clifton Park with my husband, our son, Weston, and our chocolate lab. In my free time, I love reading Young Adult literature and going for walks at the Saratoga Spa Park. The beach is my happy place so I try to make it to Wildwood every summer!