Brewster Names New Superintendent, Dr. Laurie Bandlow

The Brewster Board of Education is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Laurie Bandlow as Superintendent of Schools for the Brewster Central School District, effective August 1, 2019.

“We want to thank everyone who participated in the search process as we believe your input enabled the board to select a candidate who truly reflects the district’s values and aspirations for its students,” said Board of Education President Sonia Mesika.

Dr. Bandlow comes to Brewster from Paulsboro, N.J., where she has been superintendent since 2015.

“Through my visits and conversations, it’s become very clear to me that Brewster is a very special place,” said Dr. Bandlow. “I know that working with the Board of Education, parents, teachers, and administrators, we can make a difference in the lives of children.”

Board President Mesika cited Dr. Bandlow’s demonstrated strengths in working with the community at large as well as the school community. “She is a good listener who values the opinions of all stakeholders, especially when making decisions that affect many people for the long term,” said Mesika. “We believe her flexibility, vision and collaborative and caring nature will be a good fit for Brewster.”

For Dr. Bandlow, returning to the Hudson Valley is like a homecoming. Raised in Warwick, New York, she began her teaching career in the same Warwick middle school that she attended as a child. She was inspired to become an educator by her great-grandmother, a beloved first grade teacher, Mrs. Alexandria Zickler, in Montgomery, New York.

Before taking the superintendency in Paulsboro, Dr. Bandlow was an elementary school principal and middle school principal in Howell, New Jersey, and a teacher and assistant principal in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District in Princeton, New Jersey. She has been a Lead Science Teacher, contributor to a National Science Foundation grant, and Governor’s Convocation Teacher of the Year.

She earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seton Hall University. Her doctoral research addressed the importance of parent involvement. She found that the children of parents who took an active role in all aspects of their child’s education scored an average of one full grade higher in math than those whose parents were less involved. She is the author of Parental Involvement Predicts Student Success published by Lambert Academic. She also holds a Master’s in Elementary Education and Science from SUNY-New Paltz, a Master’s in Educational Administration from Monmouth University, and a Bachelor’s from East Stroudsburg University.

The Board of Education will be announcing dates when members of the public will have an opportunity to meet Dr. Bandlow.