RCS News

District Appoints SantaBarbara Director of Curriculum and Instruction

(Jan. 5) At its regular meeting on Jan. 4, the RCS Board of Education unanimously voted to appoint Elizabeth SantaBarbara as director of curriculum and instruction. With this appointment, SantaBarbara, who currently serves as sixth-grade principal and district data and testing coordinator, fills a vacancy created by the appointment of former Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Elisabeth Smith as RCS superintendent of schools on Dec. 6.  

Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade Principal Pamela Black will take over responsibility for sixth-grade students from SantaBarbara, in a move that will reduce the overall administrative staff by one position and save the district more than $125,400 in this year’s budget by promoting a highly qualified internal candidate.

As director of curriculum and instruction, SantaBarbara will continue to oversee student assessments and data, and will take on the additional responsibilities of maintaining a pre-K-12 curriculum that aligns with the new national Common Core Learning Standards, working closely with department heads to implement the district’s educational objectives. Additionally, she will develop and manage the instructional budget and conduct grant writing, professional development trainings and teacher evaluations.

“My primary goal will be to assist with leading the district in moving forward with goals that meet the New York state and Common Core Learning Standards, such as literacy across the curriculum, maintaining a culture of data-driven instruction and ensuring that learning is relevant to students,” says SantaBarbara. “I will continue to work with administration and staff to build relationships based on trust that put the needs of the district’s children first.”  

Santa Barbara has been with the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District for 33 years. She began her RCS career as an eighth-grade math teacher in 1978, and devoted 28 years to student instruction before being promoted to curriculum content specialist of mathematics for grades five through eight in 2004. In 2007, SantaBarbara was appointed middle school principal and data and testing coordinator.

She holds certificate in School District Administration from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, a master’s degree in education administration from the University at Albany and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and mathematics from the College of Saint Rose, where she taught Data and Supervision as an adjunct professor. Santa Barbara served as middle level NYS mathematics representative for the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State from 2008-2010, and is currently on the board of directors for Seniors Teaching and Reaching Students, a not-for-profit that provides intergenerational programming for residents in the towns of Coeymans and Bethlehem.  

 “Ms. SantaBarbara and I have already begun developing instructional goals for the next three years,” says Superintendent Smith. “Her insight, expertise, and decades-long commitment to the education of RCS students make her a true asset to the district and its learners as we shape the future landscape of RCS instruction.”