To Our District 27 Community, 

We hope that you and your families are healthy and safe. 

As you are aware and as announced in February, former Deputy Community Superintendent, Jean McKeon, retired effective March 1st after working twenty-seven years in the New York City Department of Education, serving as Deputy Superintendent of District 27 since February 2015. During her tenure, Ms. McKeon was extremely supportive to all principals across our district in reviewing Comprehensive Education Plans, as well as Language Allocation Policy Plans for Multilingual Learners. She also supported me in improving principal performance, facilitating individualized leadership development, professional learning, family engagement and in many other capacities. Ms. McKeon will continue to support District 27 while helping us to prepare our next level leaders in our Hunter College Program for School Building and School District Leadership, which will begin in the Fall. In the meantime, we wish her the best of luck in her endeavors. 

We are pleased to announce that, after a rigorous and thorough search, we have selected Melissa Compson to fill our vacancy as our second Deputy Community Superintendent (the role previously held by Ms. McKeon) effective July 1, 2020. 

Deputy Superintendent Compson will work alongside Deputy Superintendent David Norment to support me and our fifty-five school communities around implementing the District vision and mission, advancing equity now and ensuring that all children in District 27 are college and career ready - academically, socially and emotionally. 

Deputy Superintendent Compson has served District 27 as a Teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal since 2000. Ms. Compson was the Founding Principal of Queens Explorers Magnet School for Global Conservation and Service Learning (P.S. 316Q). As Principal, she created a supportive learning environment with a focus on Service Learning. She also developed an interdisciplinary curriculum which resulted in sustained academic growth over time - specifically leading to 85% of K-5 students reading on or above grade level. She also worked to secure a four-year Magnet Grant that provided additional funding and programs for students at her school around Science, Technology and the Arts. Deputy Superintendent Compson is a graduate of the CITE School Building Leadership and School District Leadership Programs through the College of Saint Rose. She holds Bachelor of Science Degrees in General and Special Education from SUNY Geneseo and a Masters of Science Degree in Literacy from Long Island University. Additionally, Ms. Compson is a 2019-2020 member of the Cahn Fellows Program for Distinguished Principals at Teachers College, Columbia University. 

For a complete listing of our District 27 Superintendent’s Team, please visit our website: http://www.district27nyc.org/ourteam.html 

We look forward to continuing to support our 55 school communities within District 27 and we wish you all a restful and safe summer. 

Sincerely, 

Jennifer CarreónAmbert, 

Community Superintendent