Keys to Literacy,<\/a> a research-based literacy program that focuses on traditional reading and writing skills with students K-12, for a multi-year strategic plan.\u00a0<\/p>\nSilva said he\u2019s proud to have brought community into the Bethlehem Area School District through partnerships with community organizations, businesses and universities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rosa Carides-Hof, the community school coordinator at Donegan Elementary School, said Silva worked on strategic planning for community schools alongside former superintendent Joseph Roy. When Carides-Hof found out Silva was retiring, she said she immediately thought about the loss that\u2019d be felt in the community schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c(Silva) continues to be out in the community, always visiting different activities that we do at the school,\u201d Rosa Carides-Hof said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t just a superintendent that was in his office doing his thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carides-Hof said she hopes the next superintendent will champion community schools, noting their success largely depends on the support and commitment of district leadership, particularly the superintendent and principals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silva said he loves seeing students perform at their highest level, whether at Liberty or Freedom High School\u2019s band performances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silva said his biggest impact is helping principals, teachers and coaches succeed in their schools, similar to the role of a company CEO. He said his primary customers are Bethlehem students and the community, ensuring the district prepares students to be college and career-ready.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Principal of Liberty High School Brandon Horlick said Silva\u2019s leadership and commitment to the district will be difficult to match.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think (Silva) sets the bar extremely high for the next person that\u2019s going to come in, not only with his knowledge and experience in public education, but also his pride for the city of Bethlehem,\u201d Horlick said.<\/p>\n
Horlick said when he first met Silva, he could immediately sense his passion for the Bethlehem Area School District and the success of its students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Horlick began teaching in the district in 2015 and after three years became assistant principal of Nitchmann Middle School. In 2021, he became principal of Broughal Middle School, where he said Silva was his direct supervisor and coached him to be an instructional leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI always felt like (Silva) was very supportive of helping me as I progressed throughout my career from teacher to being an administrator,\u201d Horlick said.<\/p>\n
Horlick said his favorite memory was when Silva called him to say he\u2019d been hired as the principal of Liberty High School. He said it was a proud moment for both of them, as Silva had been a mentor and coach throughout his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also said he wants the next superintendent to be someone who feels honored to embrace the culture, diversity and vibrancy of the Bethlehem community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silva said he believes every student should be their authentic selves. He said despite the Trump administration\u2019s efforts, the Bethlehem Area School District maintains its focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and doesn\u2019t want to weaken that commitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bethlehem Area School District is a big ocean and one ship is not going to change the ocean,\u201d Silva said. \u201cI think any superintendent should recognize that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silva said he\u2019s unsure what his next path will be, but he may teach college-level education classes and continue serving the community in other ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s currently on the board of directors for nonprofits, such as New Bethany Ministries \u2014 which supports people experiencing poverty, hunger and homelessness \u2014 and United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley\u2014 which invests in solutions for education, healthy aging and community stability.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2023, Jack Silva, \u201809G, signed a five-year contract as superintendent set to expire on June 30, 2028.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[3946,8919,153,155,154,1197,523],"class_list":["post-151336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-4-min-read","tag-academics","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-feature","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}