Floral Park’s elementary students will have a new leader when they return to the classroom this fall: Floral Park-Bellerose principal Lauren Quezada, a longtime early childhood educator with a passion for foundational literacy.
“Literacy really is the key to all content areas,” Quezada said. “Being able to provide students with the instruction that really makes them lifelong learners is just a huge passion of mine.”
Quezada started her career teaching, which has primarily been focused on younger elementary students, in New York City public schools in 2009. She then moved to the Freeport Public School District, where she first worked as an elementary classroom teacher before serving as a reading specialist and literacy coach for all students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
“Being able to provide each student with individualized reading instruction and writing instruction that meets their needs is just something that I am very passionate about,” Quezada said.
“I was analyzing student data, supporting teachers, coming up with small group instruction,” she continued. “I would sit with teachers to plan lessons. I would model lessons. We come up with intervention plans for specific students, as well as roll out curriculum and train new teachers in what that curriculum actually looks like in implementation.”
After that, she became the assistant principal of Stratford Avenue Elementary School in the Garden City School District. She served that school for the past three years until she decided to move into the Floral Park principalship to start this school year.
She said this first year at Floral Park-Bellerose will be “a year of listening” for her.
“This year, I’ll be hitting the ground listening,” Quezada said. “My number one priority this year is listening to families, connecting with families, listening to students, connecting with students. Same thing for the teachers. I want to learn as much as I can so we can make plans to grow what’s already a solid foundation.”
Quezada means it when she says she’s not all talk: She’s already implementing a comprehensive, formal entry plan to meet with teachers, parents, administrators, and students to learn their thoughts on the district’s strengths and weaknesses.
“I’m asking them the same 10 or 11 questions that I’ve identified to really look for patterns,” Quezada said regarding teachers, administrators and parents. “I’m really listening and gathering that information to help me understand where we are currently and where we need to go next.”
“I plan on doing student roundtable discussions once the school year starts with the kids from each grade level,” she continued. “They definitely are at the forefront of what we do, so I want to hear what they have to say.”
Quezada said she’s developed a passion for curriculum development and teacher coaching through her past roles, skills she’s excited to bring to Floral Park.
“’I’ve wanted to widen my reach, to be able to empower and build the capacity of all students and teachers. I think that your reach gets wider as you take on these new roles,” Quezada said. “I love getting to see teacher success, getting to see students get exactly what they need, and watching them grow and learn. It’s just so it’s such a rewarding profession…That’s really at the heart of why I continue this.”
She said she’s enjoyed helping teachers grow since she was a classroom teacher herself, modelling for colleagues or sharing resources because it “impacts student success.”
While at Garden City, Quezada said she helped facilitate teacher-led walkthroughs, during which teachers visited each other’s classrooms and learned from one another in a structured way.
“They visited multiple classrooms and talked about what they noticed and then identified next steps for learning about or implementing their colleagues’ [strategies],” she said. “I think I’ve always worked really closely with teachers to grow their practice, whether that was planning lessons or modeling lessons in classrooms.”
Quezada, originally from nearby New Hyde Park, now lives in Farmingdale with two children, one in elementary school and one in middle school. She said she feels having young kids provides her with an advantage as an elementary school principal.
“Having young kids brings the perspective of understanding and being on the parent side,” Quezada said. “I have a sixth grader and a fourth grader. So, everything that’s happening to these students and that these families are experiencing here is what I’m experiencing, on the other end, at home.”
Though she knows it may sound cliché, Quezada said she truly means it when she says her door – and her inbox – are always open.
“I really, really want families and teachers and students to know that this is a partnership, and that we will work together to continue to grow the building and the district,” Quezada said.
The first day of school at Floral Park-Bellerose is Sept. 4.
