Here’s where to vote for Elizabeth A Urbanski for Holmdel Board of Education on November, 5th.
You can read it here .
Thank you for inviting me to speak at the Alliance of Chinese Americans at Holmdel, had a great experience speaking to a group who care deeply about quality education. If you would like me to speak to your group, please get in touch.
We must ensure that the Holmdel Board of Education remains properly independent from the Township Committee and serves the interests of all parents, children and residents.
We need to make the administration address falling school rankings. See what is wrong and actively figure out what we need to do to fix it. Lower ranking harms students applying to college and lowers property values.
Happy to talk to your group to. Contact me here.
Looking forward to meeting with the Country Wood's homeowner's association this evening. Happy to meet with other groups as well to hear you input. Please get in touch!
I published this candidate letter on tapinto.net
My grandfather purchased property in Holmdel in the 1930’s as he was attracted to the unique, rural, character of what was then a much smaller town. We reside on our family’s organic tree farm in Holmdel, which is where I grew up and where we are raising our three children who have attended all of the Holmdel Schools. I attended Smith College and have a Masters from both NY University and Columbia University. I run my own professional art advisory firm, Elizabeth A Urbanski Associates, Inc. from Holmdel, am a trustee of the Monmouth County Historical Association, and have taught Art History at Brookdale Community College.
I am running for school board to improve transparency, accountability and excellence across the whole district and to be an advocate for parents, children and the whole community. As the school district focusses on data driven analysis, the parents of Holmdel need to be fully informed of everything we are learning and the outcomes of this. School decision making that affects our children can be opaque and I feel strongly that parents are better advocates when they are informed advocates. I will push for accountability to parents. In recent years, we have experienced issues involving school safety and communication to the parents and children on this has not been as fully forthcoming as it should have been. Timeliness and clear communication are essential. Another concern is the standards that are applied when making critical decisions about our children's educational options, as these choices have life-long effects. I will push for greater accountability not only on how decisions are made but also to study the outcomes of those decisions. The most recent US News and World Report article places us at 106th in the state out of a list of 350. We need to understand what the reasons for this ranking are and what needs to be done to raise our score.
Please follow me on twitter @UrbanskiForBOE
https://twitter.com/UrbanskiForBOE
If elected I will have regular "open hours" every month where I will listen to your concerns and input about the operations of the Board of Education. I know that speaking in a public forum such as the board meetings is not what everybody wants to do and everybody deserves a forum.
Independent News article is out, candidates are discussed alphabetically so please scroll to the end to read about me. You can read it here.
Here are links to the accounts for my professional activities:
My art advisory firm: Elizabeth A Urbanski Associates, Inc
Partnership for large scale projects: Art & Design
My grandfather purchased property in Holmdel in the 1930’s as he was attracted to the unique, rural, character of what was then a much smaller town. We reside on our family’s organic tree farm in Holmdel, which is where I grew up and where we are raising our children. I attended Smith College and have a Masters from both NY University and Columbia University. I run my own professional art advisory firm, Elizabeth A Urbanski Associates, Inc. from Holmdel.
I am running for school board to improve transparency, accountability and excellence across the whole district and to be an advocate for parents, children and the whole community. As the school district focusses on data driven analysis, the parents of Holmdel need to be fully informed of everything we are learning and the outcomes of this. School decision making that affects our children can be opaque and I feel strongly that parents are better advocates when they are informed advocates. I will push for accountability to parents. In recent years, we have experienced issues involving school safety and communication to the parents and children on this has not been as fully forthcoming as it should have been. Timeliness and clear communication are essential. Another concern is the standards that are applied when making critical decisions about our children's educational options, as these choices have life-long effects. I will push for greater accountability not only on how decisions are made but also to study the outcomes of those decisions. The most recent US News and World Report article places us at 106th in the state out of a list of 350. We need to understand what the reasons for this ranking are and what needs to be done to raise our score.
This is a copy of the official ballot for Holmdel Board of Education
Elizabeth Urbanski, Candidate for Holmdel BOE
Statement for Independent News
I am running for school board to improve transparency, accountability and excellence across the whole district. As the school district focusses on data driven analysis, the parents of Holmdel need to be fully informed of everything we are learning and the outcomes of this. School decision making that affects our children can be opaque and I feel strongly that parents are better advocates when they are informed advocates. I will push for accountability to parents. In recent years, we have experienced issues involving school safety and communication to the parents and children on this has not been as fully forthcoming as it should have been. Timeliness and clear communication are essential. Another concern is the standards that are applied when making critical decisions about our children's educational options, as these choices have life-long effects. I will push for greater accountability not only on how decisions are made but also to study the outcomes of those decisions. The most recent US News and World Report article places us at 106th in the state out of a list of 350. We need to understand what the reasons for this ranking are and what needs to be done to raise our score.
Candidate Biography
My grandfather purchased property in Holmdel in the 1930’s as he was attracted to the unique, rural, character of what was then a much smaller town. My family has stayed in this community for the same reasons. We reside on our family’s organic tree farm in Holmdel, which is where I grew up and where we are raising our children. I attended Smith College and have a Masters from both NY University and Columbia University. I run my own professional art advisory firm, Elizabeth A Urbanski Associates, Inc. from Holmdel. I am on the board of Trustees of the Monmouth County Historical Association and have taught Art History at Brookdale Community College.
CILU Speech
Hello, my name is Elizabeth Urbanski and I am a candidate for the Board of Education. Firstly, let me thank the Citizens for Informed Land Use for inviting us here to speak to you. When my grandfather purchased property in Holmdel in the 1930’s he was attracted to the unique, rural, character of what was then a much smaller town. My family has stayed in this community for the same reasons. We reside on our family’s organic tree farm in Holmdel, which is where I grew up and where we are raising our children.
All of our three children attend Holmdel Schools and we have had direct experience of the entire system, from pre-School at the Village School to the High School. I understand the unique history of Holmdel Township and the Holmdel School system which combines both academic excellence, and engaged and educated parents, within a pastoral environment. As our children have progressed through the school system, I have realized it is very important to be directly involved in the school community. I have attended board meetings, met with all the key members of the administration and I have been able to see the inner workings of the Holmdel School system.
I am running for school board to improve transparency, accountability and excellence across the whole district. While we have many important and exciting changes with our Vision 2020 building plan, there are other areas of transparency and accountability with in the school system that need to be improved. Holmdel has a reputation of being an excellent school system and we need to make sure we continually work to elevate all aspects of the educational experience.
I will promote transparency in all aspects of school board operations. The school district has been focussing on data driven analysis to better understand the performance and issues involved with running a school in the 21st Century. As we are collecting and databasing metrics about our children, the parents of Holmdel need to be fully informed of everything we are learning and the outcomes of this. If the administration has access to metrics about your children then you should too. It has been my experience as a parent that decision making that affects my children can be opaque and I feel strongly that parents are better advocates when they are informed advocates.
I will push for even more accountability of the board and school system to parents. Unfortunately, in recent years, we have experienced some issues involving school safety and communication to the parents and children on this has not been as fully forthcoming as it should have been. Parents are rightly concerned about what has happened and what is being done. We should not have to resort to the Holmdel Parents Facebook Group to find out whether our children are safe. Timeliness and clear communication are essential. Another issue of concern is the standards that are applied when making critical decisions about our children's educational options as they progress through their school careers. The options made available to them during their education have life long effects. I will push the administration to provide greater accountability not only on how decisions are made but to follow up with the outcomes of those decisions.
Excellence in education is of course an issue we all are pushing for. The most recent US News and World report article places us at 106th in the state out of a list of 350. Many of you will have moved into Holmdel because of the school system and this ranking has effect not only on our children but also on property values. We need to understand what the reasons for this ranking are and what we need to do to raise us within the table. What should our target ranking be and what are the steps needed to attain that level?
I am running because people who know me know that I am a strong advocate for parents and children, with experience of the school system from pre-school to the high school. They have encouraged me to share my advocacy with the whole community. I will be your voice in promoting TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, and EXCELLENCE in Holmdel.