OACS News Service
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Julius de Jager joining OACS Having worked at the alliance as director of elementary education from 2003-2006 de Jager says he “thoroughly enjoyed the work.” When the position at the provincial organization was advertised he says he did some soul searching about how he wanted to finish his career and decided, with encouragement from others, to apply. “I’m really excited about the appointment,” de Jager tells the OACS News. The new position fills the vacancy created when Hugo Marcus became executive director in January. “We are extremely pleased with the fact that he accepted the position that we offered and we look forward to his contributions to the team,” says Marcus.
“He brings a whole range of gifts and skills to the directors’ table that we appreciate and just find ourselves extremely blessed and fortunate that we have him around the table with us and the qualities that he brings as a director.” De Jager says he anticipates his term of service to be in part a transition to find and recruit the new generation of organizational leaders as directors retire in the years to come. He is familiar with school quality and in particular the School Quality Assurance Program (SQAP), having been involved with writing the manuals in his previous OACS position. He was also a junior member of the old school evaluation teams in the 1990s. The Progressive Assessment Framework for Secondary Schools (PAFSS) is a new OACS school quality improvement service. De Jager says as he has an elementary schools background he expects to have a quick learning curve as he works to understand the culture of high schools. In addition to school quality, de Jager’s role will focus on human resources (HR). He will be looking to ensure difficult situations do not arise, and work with school boards and principals behind the scenes to discuss proper procedures, language and documentation around HR issues. “It’s interesting. Coming out of the OACS from a curriculum focus (and then) coming back in with a school management focus is going to push me a bit, and I guess that’s what I wanted — I wanted one more challenge in my career,” he says. In his last weeks as principal at the Cambridge school de Jager says it is hard to leave the work, noting it is a “wonderful school” with “wonderful people.” “Despite the fact that it’s going to be a goodbye here I am very keen on this new position, looking very much forward to it and excited about the new possibilities,” he says. If you have feedback on this article please contact jennifer(at)axiomnews.ca, or call the newsroom at 800-294-0051. |
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