He's the best

GOSHEN — Dr. James Langlois of Goshen has been named the 2015 New York State School Superintendent of the Year, the NYS Council of School Superintendents announced Dec. 23.

Langlois is District Superintendent of the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES and for eight years previously was superintendent of schools in the Goshen Central School District.

“To the extent that the award calls attention to the challenges faced by public education and its long history of successes in the face of those challenges, I am honored to receive this recognition,” Langlois said. “It is an honor that I am proud to share with every superintendent who leads public schools.”

As the New York State Superintendent of the Year, Langlois now becomes New York’s candidate for national superintendent of the year, to be awarded at AASA’s National Conference on Education in San Diego, Calif., in February.

“Jim Langlois is admired by his colleagues in this state and beyond," said Council Executive Director Dr. Robert Reidy. "They have called on him to serve in many leadership roles. He is also a respected independent voice and effective local leader among the superintendents and school boards of the Lower Hudson Valley.”

An innovative leader
At Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES, Langlois "leads a responsive, innovative and collaborative agency that serves some of the highest-rated and most-respected school districts in the nation," said the statement announcing his award. “'We Can Do That,' the BOCES’ motto, exemplifies the agency’s commitment to helping school districts meet the rapidly changing challenges of education reform and tight budgets with flexible, cutting-edge, high-quality and cost-effective programs."

Langlois has been district superintendent of Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES for the past 10 years, and served the previous eight years in Goshen. Before that, he was an assistant superintendent on Long Island and worked in a number of leadership positions in the public schools of Manhattan and the Bronx. He began his career in public education 50 years ago as a high school English teacher in Connecticut.

Langlois has served as President of the New York State Council of School Superintendents. He has also served on the council’s Executive Committee, its House of Delegates, Commissioner’s Advisory Council, on many of its committees, and is a co-author of its recent vision statement, Public Education Matters.

He served for seven years on the national governing board of the American Association of School Administrators, the council’s national affiliate, and for several years on the national Association of Educational Service Agencies Executive Committee.

He holds two masters degrees and a doctorate in educational communication from Columbia University Teachers College. He has taught graduate educational leadership courses at Fordham University and SUNY New Paltz. He is the author of several nationwide evaluations of federally funded career and technical and special education initiatives and has presented at many national and regional conferences.

In nominating Langlois, BOCES Board President Richard Kreps wrote, “He has creatively and with great persistence developed a positive, collaborative and responsive culture that has successfully steered our BOCES through major internal transitions and multiple external challenges. As a result of his leadership, our BOCES is often looked upon as a model of effective practices in an educational service agency.”

Under his leadership, Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES has received national and regional recognition as a model of excellence in such areas as developing independence in multiply handicapped students and incorporating entrepreneurship into career and technical education.