Superintendent Brian Brotschul already knew how special Delran was when he came to the school district in 2014.
That was after friends and family told him about the township’s achievements, and upon arrival, he realized they were right. Since then, Delran has seen a rise in academic achievement in every ethnic group, has become an innovator with countless projects and has set the tone for what true school district looks like.
While numbers show that Delran has made strides since Brotschul’s arrival, the superintendent believes none of it would be possible without the teachers, principals and community within the Delran School District.
“With the folks that live here and the folks that I work so closely with, I am really blessed to be around people with so much pride and so much passion and dedication to the township,” he said.
“One thing I will say about this district is that they always have the students in their mind. When they’re making decisions and when they’re engaged in processes to arrive at what’s best for students, their focus is specifically on what’s best for the kids.
“[Principal] Finkle has a deep-rooted belief as we all do in children,” Brotschul added. “In a lot of ways his ‘What’s best for the children?’ mantra has been our guide for our district for a long time. The teachers in Delran are also extremely focused on student achievement. There’s a deep-rooted passion in professional development.”
According to Brotschul, the teachers in Delran are so focused on academic achievement that at times they are even too hard on themselves. As an educator himself, Brotschul, tries to be each teacher’s biggest cheerleader and is present in each school to help his staff.
“Just because I am the superintendent, doesn’t mean we have to function as a top-down, authoritative perspective,” Brotschul noted. “We need to dive into the work of engaging with the folks who are on the front lines of teaching the students. They are the most precious commodity in the town.
“I have to give a lot of credit to the teachers, principals and the leadership on the Delran Education Association,” he added, “because all sides have been engaging in really rich work and are having extremely productive conversations on how to support kids and how to support an excellent program.
“That has been a significant shift since 2014.”
