Back To School With The New Connors' Principal

Laurinda Pereira started her teaching career 30 years ago as a bilingual Portuguese instructor in Elizabeth.

Last week, the petite, energetic mother of three became principal at Thomas G. Connors Primary School, with 325 children in pre-kindergarten through seventh grade.

"I'm ready," said Pereira, sitting at the round table in the center of her new office.

She comes to Connors after a five-year tenure as the assistant/acting principal at North Arlington High School. She was also previously the school's supervisor of language arts, history, and world languages. After spending her early years in Newark and Kearny, Pereira moved to Portugal with her grandparents to attend an English-speaking boarding school. She has a bachelor's degree in French and Spanish from Caldwell College and a master's in teaching from Farleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck. She's also certified in early childhood education, general education kindergarten through eighth grade, Spanish education kindergarten through eighth grade, bilingual education and English as a Second Language, and administration.

Last Friday, HobokenPatch paid Pereira a visit. She was wearing the same t-shirt she had made for each one of her teachers, that reads "At Connors, we make a difference."

Pereira explained that the shirts are meant to remind her staff of Loren Eiseley's story "The Star Thrower," in which a young girl walking along the beach tosses the starfish she finds drying up on the sand back into the ocean so they survive. Someone asks the girl why she bothers, when there are so many starfish to save and it would be impossible to help them all. The girl answers that to the few she throw back, she has made a huge difference.

Pereira said she would like to incorporate the same message of determination and hope into her leadership at Connors and that every one of her students is a starfish.

"As you may know, if a starfish loses one of its five limbs, it grows back," said Pereira. "So, I believe that if a child has something that is missing in [his or her life], we can make up for the difference in some way, if the parent or guardian works with us."

She also answered a few of our questions.

Q: What is your philosophy on education?

A: My philosophy on education is very simple, extremely simple. Everything a teacher does, an administrator does, anyone who works with a child does, should be done so that we educate the child. We are all learners, be it the child, be it the teacher, be it the administrator.

Q: What are your responsibilities as principal?

A: As principal of any building, [they are] to oversee the education of every student.

Q: What do you think it takes to be a great principal?

A: You must be flexible. Consistent is extremely important. You must do the same for each child. You can not have favorites or do something for one child and not do it for another child, so above all, be consistent. Also, be very accurate with your information, and one of my mottos in life is to be impeccable with your word. That means that everything you say, you should really believe in it, and not just be a parrot.

Q: What are you currently doing to prepare for the new school year?

A: I have been extremely busy reviewing what was left here from Ms. Erbe, and either reassigning or redesigning staff, program, and also policy.

Q: Are you implementing any changes this year that the public or parents might want to know about?

A: Yes, the first change that I am implementing is that parents, due to children's safety, are not allowed in the building, unless they come through the front door and are signed in and then, administration gives them a pass. I sent a letter home the first Friday in August explaining that. That would be the biggest change that I know of right now. I don't know if it was an issue [in the past], but I would like to see the safety of the children be the most important thing that we do here, besides educate them, of course.

We should touch every single child every day. Every child should go home with one new idea, one new concept, one new skill each day they attend school, not just this year, but every year.

Q: How will you do that?

A: I have met with my teachers. We have discussed where we are, or where we were, where we would like to be at the end of the year. We are now forming small committees to study what is going on, what has gone on, and where we are going. That would be our goal eventually. We will study student achievement, parent involvement, community relations, and the entire Hoboken educational system.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish your first year as principal?

A: I would like to be able to see that my students feel that they are always welcome. I would like to understand the student and the parent, and I would like to see [the students] grow as individuals in this universe.

Q: What are your long-term goals for the school?

A: Honestly, I have not made long-term goals because I first have to see what the students are like and what the staff is like. I'm new to the entire district, to the entire staff. Before I can establish goals, I have to see where we are and where we want to go. Of course, no matter where you go, you want the school to always shine and you want the students to succeed in everything they do.

Q: What was your most notable or proudest accomplishment in that position?

A: I had many, many moments of pride, but just last week, a friend sent me a magazine where North Arlington is listed as one of the top 10 schools that have improved the most in New Jersey. So, I have to write to my teachers, my old staff, and let them know that I am extremely proud, and if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be featured there because they're the ones that make the difference every day.

Q: Was there anything specific that you did in that role that you really liked?

A: I am a very academic person. I know that the teachers did not appreciate my involvement or my daily involvement in students' accomplishments, grades, and attendance. I communicated with the parents every time a child was late more than three times. I also asked all the teachers to give me monthly lists of students who were not performing. We would review that and ask the parents to help us out and work on a plan, so that the child could advance. [The teachers] didn't appreciate the paperwork, but they appreciated the outcome.

Q: What attracted you to Hoboken? What do you like about the city?

A: The diversity, the proximity to [New York City], the great people that live here, and the prospect of working for a wonderful board of education.

Q: What do you bring to Hoboken?

A: I speak four languages. I can communicate with parents who do not speak English fluently. Portuguese is my maiden tongue. I learned French from fourth grade on, all the way through college. I had a double major. Spanish, I started in high school and took through college. German, I took two years of it in college.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

A: I read. I love the sun, so I love the shore. I do a lot of needlepoint, and I am just staring to learn how to quilt.

Q: Is there anything else people might want to know about you?

A: I'm a mother. I have three children. They are all out of college, two boys, one girl. The girl is in the middle. I am very family-oriented. I have travelled extensively, China, Europe, Central America.