Dr. Nicole Durkin, Principal

My philosophy for education is that all students should have the opportunity for a quality education through quality teaching. It is my belief that this can only be achieved with a clear and focused vision for instruction and the curriculum. It is my job to ensure teachers and students have the instructional tools and resources necessary to continuously improve and monitor student learning.

My Bio . . .

Education

Doctor of School Leadership, Wilmington University, 2005
Certificate in Advanced Educational Technology, 1999
Masters of Education,Wilmington University,1997
Certificate for Mathematics Instruction, 1992
Bachelors of Science, University of Delaware, 1987

Published Research

Using Connected Math Program: Its Impact on the Delaware State Testing Scores of 8th Grade Students at Milford Middle School, March 2005

Experience

Milford School District since 1992 holding positions as math teacher, math department chairperson, Computer Technology teacher, Technology Specialist K-12, Math Specialist K-12, Assistant Principal and Principal.
Adjunct College Instructor - Del-Tech, University of Delaware and Wilmington University
First National Bank of Maryland, 1987-1990 - Internal Bank Auditor
Pepsi Co., 1987 - Market Analyst Professional Development I have conducted or organized. . .

Awards

Superstars in Education 2009 - "Eliminating the permission to forget through the use of weekly EK surveys and student data analysis"
Nominated National Blue Ribbon School 2009
Nominated Breakthrough School 2009, NASSP

Professional Development I have conducted or organized. . .

Strategice Planning 2009 - Middle School staff participated in activities on Jan. 16, 2009 to help assist in the development of professional development activities for the 2009/2010 school year.
Physical Education / Health 2007, 2008 - Vertical alignment and mapping of curriculum.
Vertical Alignment for Math K-12, 2007-A committee consisting of teacher representatives from Elementary, Middle and High School will work on aligning curriculum across grade level. This committee will alsoidentify areas of overlap and opportunity for refinement of curriculum between Elementary, Middle and High School.
Curriculum Mapping, 2007 - All staff particpated in a two day inservice October 11 and 12 in which each department mapped content for the year. This document will assist teachers in identifying areas of overlap in content and the opportunity for cross-content integration. This document will be available for use December 1, 2007.
Dr. Duke Kelly, 2007-All staff will participate in an Impact Teaching workshop aimed at learning more about the following: classroom managment through state managment, the art of effective directions, making learning memorable, language for clarity and the power of word choice, effective use of music in the learning environment, designing a powerful and effective learning environment, planning an effective class, lesson, workshop or meeting. (Website: Educationa Illustrated)
Dr. Lee Jenkins, 2006 - Participants will hear Lee Jenkins describe and explain his “ Ten root causes of America 's frustration with education .” Participants will learn about measurement tools that can be used in the classroom, school, and district to foster improved student learning while addressing the root causes that today's educators inherited. The session will pinpoint ways to identify and remove barriers to learning and will show how to use multiple assessments to validate success. Dr. Jenkins will demonstrate easy-to-understand data collection and interpretation strategies and explain how to prepare simple graphs that can enhance understanding and help all stakeholders use data more effectively. (Website: L to J Consulting)
Formative Assessments, 2006 - all staff participated in training during the beginning year inservice days. The objective of this training was to share research on the value of formative assessments in the classroom, allow teachers to discuss and share methods/tools they have used as well as practice using selected tools during the training session.
Continuous Improvement Using Essential Knowledge, 2005-2006 - All math and science staff particpated in training aimed at identifying the essential knowledge of the curriculum. They were also trained in an Understanding by Design and assessment method allowing them to monitor student progress using student data analysis.
Science/Math integration, 2003-2005 - Organized dinner meetings for the science and math departments to provide them the opportunity to view and particpate in selected science and math curriculum activities. The purpose of this porfessional development was to identfy common content threads between the two content areas.
Web page design, 2000 - Provided training and support for school webmasters during the development of school web sites.
Educational Technology Courses, 1999-2000 - Contracted by Del-Tech Community College to instruct the Introductory Courses on site for teaching staff.

Organizations

National Association of Professional Women - Member since 2009
Relay for Life - Team Captain 2000 - 2006, Organized team relay team and fundraising activities raising over $8500 for the American Cancer Society.
National Council for Teachers of Mathematics - Member since 1992
National Association of Secondary School Principals - Member since 2003
Delaware Association of School Administrators - Member since 2003
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development - Member since 2004

Last Update December 16, 2009