Melissa Butler
Melissa Butler has long been viewed as a rising star in the South Orange-Maplewood School District, winning a Bammy Award as Middle School Teacher of the Year for her forward-thinking classroom work in 2014.
Now, Butler has been tapped to serve as the Interim Supervisor of English Language Arts K-12 for the district, appointed by the Board of Education on September 29.
Butler has been an ELA teacher at South Orange Middle School since September 2005. Since the summer of 2013, she has worked for the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia Teachers College and has facilitated staff development for teachers and administrators around the county using the methodology of reading and writing workshop. Butler has received a number of awards and distinctions including being recognized as the 2014 Bammy Winner for Middle School Teacher of the Year.
“It is an honor to officially introduce myself as the new K-12 ELA Supervisor for the South Orange/Maplewood School District,” said Butler upon accepting her appointment.
“I am truly passionate about every aspect of education, and I love literacy.
“I look forward to partnering with the teachers and parents in order to provide our students with the skills, knowledge, and habits necessary for a high-quality literacy experience and encourage a continuing focus towards their future college and career success. As a parent of a 1st grader, I have learned and recognized the sincere importance of a strong home-school connection, and I feel fortunate to be a part of a school community that has established such a strong and supportive parent base already. I anticipate strengthening this union and exploring the needs of each student, to accomplish our literacy goals.”
Butler holds a BA in English Writing and Elementary Education from SUNY Potsdam, an MS.Ed. in Special Education from Hofstra University, and an MA.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Montclair State University.
In 2014, the Bammys cited Butler for her “work focus[ing] on learning in the digital age as a model for moving her school and other educators forward and by revolutionizing the reading and writing workshop with state-of-the art tools and methods.” The award release noted that Butler had “piloted many platforms in her classroom such as Edmodo, Google Apps, Evernote, Livebinder, and Twitter. Her 6th-grade language arts classroom pioneered the 1st 1:1 paperless learning environment in her school district.”
