Get to Know Your District-Sharon Krell

1. Description of the job and responsibilities

I am the program specialist for the Clayton Valley feeder pattern which includes Diablo View MS, Pine Hollow MS, Ayers, Eagle Peak, Highlands, MDE and Silverwood. I attend meetings important to the school sites in which they feel they may need district support. I work with the schools to create site-based opportunities to help special education students. I also help clarify available district programs, and interpret special education laws at team meetings. I help develop and present teacher in-service training for new teachers, for veteran teachers and for administrators each year. I also assist in finding placements for students new to the district or for students moving from one site to another by working with Program administrators on a weekly basis.

I am also the Extended School Year Coordinator. I develop the entire program: selecting sites, working with transportation on times, entering transportation data, setting up classes, enrolling students, training principals and working with personnel to hire staff.


2. What inspired you to work in this profession?

As a middle school student, I used to help my mother, a high school English teacher, correcting papers for her students and we would talk about different parts of her school day. Her enthusiasm sparked a desire to become a teacher, but I chose elementary school as my first choice, rather than high school. I landed in special education by default because when I graduated college, the only available positions were in special education. As soon as I spent a few weeks in the classroom, however, I knew this was where I was supposed to be and I have never looked back. I have worked with mentally retarded students, learning handicapped students, students multiple handicaps and gifted students and I have loved it all and always learned something from my students with each passing year.

3. What is your professional goal?

As a new teacher, for 9 years, my goal was to help my students become all they could be by learning new things and finding different ways to present information so each year was something different. Standards, benchmarks and grade level curricula were unknowns at the time. One day an administrator from a different site approached me and asked if I would like to become a resource specialist at his school. Off in a new direction I went. I worked in a low income elementary school, moved to a high income neighborhood school, moved from LA to the East Bay and worked as a middle school resource specialist. I also became very involved in activities at the site and decided I would like to be an administrator in that District and I returned to school to get my administrative credential. That was 11 years ago, and I haven’t looked back!

4. What do you like best about your job?

The best thing about my job is that no two days are the same; each day brings new activities and new challenges. I like going to work each day and wondering how the day will turn out. I am frightfully busy and my days just fly by.


5. If you could change anything about your job/services you provide, what would it be?

I miss having connections with students and I would change that if I could. As an administrator not attached to a site, I don’t get the opportunity to closely interact with students and parents anymore. So, periodically, I have to go visit classes just because…


6. Contact information: Tel and email
Sharon Krell
Program Specialist/ESY Coordinator
682-8000, 4189
348-1757 Cell

Get to Know Chris Wilburn

Description of your job and responsibilities:

I am the Administrative Assistant to Dr. Mildred D. Browne who is the Assistant Superintendent, Pupil Services and Special Education. In addition to the normal clerical duties, I am responsible for any special projects (for example, H1N1 data report to County Health, CDE reports, MGT Report, Verification Review, etc.) that I can assist with for Dr. Browne. I also participate with the CAC; I take the monthly minutes for the committee and provide other clerical tasks. I interact with parents all of the time and I assist other Administrators whenever I can.

What inspired you to work in this profession?

I was cut from Bank of America about ten years ago, due to reductions. While trying to figure out what I was going to do next, I considered the school district because at one time in my life I wanted to be a teacher. However, I did not finish college and the thought of working either at a school site or in the district office appealed to me. I was sure that with all of the skills I had there might be something I could offer the district.

What is your professional goal?

My professional goal always is to hone the skills I possess, to be open to changes in the workplace and to leave people with the feeling that I’ve done a good job for them.

What do you like best about your job?

For me, the best part of my job is the people I work with and for. Communication and having relationships with the people I work with help make my job interesting, easier and even fun.

If you could change anything about your job/services you provide, what would it be?

I would like to have a cleaner desk, which I think is indicative of the increased work load we all have gotten due to budget reductions. Having said that, I like my boss and I like being a team with her. Plus, I am here to serve our students, like we all do; that is rewarding in itself.

Contact information:

Chris Wilburn
(925)682-8000, ext. 4047
wilburnc@mdusd.k12.ca.us

Get to Know Your District: Meet Melinda Hall

Melinda Hall is Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Mt. Diablo Unified. Caroline Stimson asked her about herself.

Please describe your job and responsibilities:
I have the responsibility of supervising and supporting seven administrators who assure that every student in the Mt. Diablo Unified School district has access to the very best curricular materials and is exposed to the best instructional practices to make the curriculum both rigorous and relevant. I am also ultimately responsible for the district’s adherence to the requirements of many federal and state funded programs that serve our special populations. Our department oversees the writing and implementation of all courses of study for secondary schools and we are currently reviewing those courses of study and making them consistent across the system. I also supervise three special education full inclusion specialists and one reading specialist who keep me very closely connected to the classroom and to our students. It is an exciting job that is never boring and requires continuous learning for me.

What inspired you to work in this profession?
During the years my children were growing up and we were moving around the United States, I began substitute teaching. It seemed that the positions that were rarely picked up were positions in special education classrooms. I chose one or two of these classroom opportunities and I was hooked. I immediately felt a need to teach, advocate for and support these incredible students.

What is your professional goal?
From the moment I was assigned to teach in my own classroom as a resource specialist in the portable classroom farthest from the main school buildings, I set my goal that I and the students I was responsible for deserved and would have access to everything the students in the regular education classrooms had. We have made progress but we still have a long way to go to experience an educational environment where every student is seen as a unique individual who deserves and commands the respect and high expectations from every adult who works with them.

What do you like best about your job?
I love the people I work with. The work is challenging as there are such limited resources for public education. However, I come to work everyday very grateful for the committed staff in my department and at our school sites. The students and the expectations they have of us as adults are always with me and they drive my continuing optimism that we will be able to do better.

If you could change anything about the services you provide, what would it be?
I would take down the walls between special education and the rest of the district both figuratively and literally. If we at the district office do not model what we expect of others to do then we are not effective leaders. Both the human and fiscal resources would better serve our students and staff if this change took place.