The Dream Team

About Dr. Andy

As a distinguished public education administrator and now a published author, Andy Rose has acquired considerable expertise in addressing the many issues faced by a dynamic local community and its school system in an ever-challenging environment. He has worked to shape how schools deliver instruction, provide professional development for its teachers, hold students accountable, and affect the way students learn.From 1984 to 2009, Dr. Andy was Chief School Administrator for the Norwood Public School District in Bergen County, New Jersey.In his 25 years as a Superintendent, four years as an elementary/middle school principal, and thirteen years as a teacher of inner-city children on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Dr. Andy has worked with an array of public and private interests – from administrators, school boards, teachers and their unions to parents, communities, government entities, and politicians, news media, corporations, and children.Such wide experience, combined with his distinguished academic credentials, has resulted in a breadth of expertise. Andy has knowledge of frontline risk assessment and mitigation as well as crisis management for the myriad of situations imposed upon school systems by our contemporary society.

Passion Fueled Early on From Work in the Inner-City

Andy’s passion for all children to get a good education was fueled early on from his experience as an Administrative Assistant for the New York City Public Schools (1976-80) and as a teacher on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (1967-80).He gained a further understanding of urban youth as Director of a summer program for Mobilization for Youth, a federally funded community initiative (1966 & 67), and as a parent liaison and Youth Group Leader at St. Augustine Chapel – also on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (1963-67).Andy’s training as a classical clarinetist came to fruition performing with the Henry Street Settlement Orchestra and the Westchester Philharmonic Symphony.

Credibility Underscored By Scholastic and Professional Accomplishment

Over the years, Dr. Andy has established a reputation as an advocate for educational excellence, a position of leadership that has been earned, in part, from his own distinctive scholastic and professional accomplishments. As a young father raising three children with his wife Vivian, also an accomplished educator, he completed advanced studies to earn a Doctorate in Educational Administration from Teachers College at Columbia University (1990).His doctorate capped years of study that included an Advanced Certificate in Educational Administration and Supervision (1982) as well as an MA in Elementary Education (1973) from New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Music Performance (1967) from Queens College.During his active years in professional associations, he served as President of the Bergen County Association of School Administrators, the Northern Valley Administrators Association, and the New Jersey Region III Special Education Council.Dr. Andy’s Norwood career was distinguished by the forging of stronger ties between the school and community. He raised student academic scores as well as teaching standards and helped to pass budgets during often challenging circumstances. His contagious vision rallied support for new projects, such as significant enhancements to special education programs and the district’s expansion of community outreach initiatives. By making effective relationships between the school, parents, and the community-at-large a priority, Andy helped secure more than $1 million in donations to the school from local organizations and recruited more qualified teachers.In 1990, Andy’s district received special recognition in the New Jersey Department of Education’s monitoring inspection for its overall organization scheme, particularly for the well-conceived multi-cultural programs and for teacher record keeping in the special education area.He is the 2008 recipient of the Bergen County Distinguished Service Award for Leadership in Public Schools and in 2009 was honored with the designation of “Andy Rose Day” in the town of Norwood, New Jersey, by Mayor James Barsa. Earlier in his career, he received an Exxon Corporation Teacher’s Grant to develop a reading program to close the gap between reading skills and test-taking for Manhattan’s inner-city children.

New Frontiers to Conquer

Now retired from his education career, Dr. Andy is influencing new constituencies as a published author, speaker, and workshop facilitator.From July 2009 to December 2010, he served as a special consultant to the Director of Region III in Demarest, New Jersey (a town in Bergen County), helping to oversee special education programs and services along with their seven elementary school districts in Northern Valley, the Northern Valley Regional High School, and for 35 other Bergen County school districts that chose to send classified students to the Region III programs.Dr. Andy and his wife Vivian are active workshop presenters and conference speakers. They presented several times at the Annual Conference on Character Education at the SAGE Colleges in Albany, New York.They continue to work as The Dream Team, conducting workshops for aspiring writers. Vivian joins Andy in his Ignite Your Dreams workshop – a “How To” plan, write, and publish a book.Andy and Vivian’s most prized accomplishments are their three Rosebuds: David, Pamela and Jennifer. Together with spouses and grandchildren, they create the jewels in their family’s crown! 

Vivian Rose, MS

Education Administrator

An accomplished career educator with expertise in early childhood and special education, Vivian Rose has nearly thirty years of distinguished service in and out of the classroom. In July 2011, she retired from her post as a kindergarten teacher for the Clarkstown Central School District in Rockland County, New York.Prior to Clarkstown, Vivian served as a supervisor of the hearing/language-impaired and communication disorders programs as well as Principal of the Alternative High School – BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) – in Putnam/Northern Westchester, New York; as well as Adjunct Professor, Psychology of Learning Disabilities at Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry.Her other career posts, all based in New York, have included: teacher in the pre-school art enrichment program at Temple Beth El; primary school teacher at St. Joseph School for the Deaf in the Bronx; and 1st and 3rd-grade teacher (Montessori approach) at OLM Elementary School in Portchester.Vivian is the recipient of eight New York State IMPACT II Developer grants as well as a Federal Education Training Grant, Montessori/Piaget, for Multiple Handicapped Children, a grant to support a summer program for children with language disorders in Putnam/Northern Westchester, and a Curriculum Smart Board Grant from the Clarkstown Education Foundation.She served on the IMPACT II Board of Directors of the New York Teachers Network and has New York State certifications as a School Administrator and Supervisor; for Special Education; for Nursery, Kindergarten, and Grades 1-6; and as a Teacher of the Deaf.As part of her service on curriculum committees, she has developed and written curriculum for elementary mathematics, technology for young children, and early literacy. She also identified, evaluated, and developed IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) for disabled students in the Chappaqua, New York Central School District, and served as a contributing author for the reading curriculum at St. Joseph School for the Deaf.Vivian earned an MS in Special Education from Hunter College and a BS in Elementary Education from St. John’s University. She has completed post-graduate studies in educational administration at New York University and earned a Professional Certificate in Sign Language at NYU. She is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, the National Education Honor Society and AAUW, The American Association of University Women.

Experienced Conference Presenter and Workshop Facilitator

Vivian is a highly experienced conference presenter and workshop facilitator. Among her many past presentations are:Heroes! – 10th Annual Character Education Conference, Sage CollegeAlternative HS Programs and Mentoring New Teachers – Association of New York State Educators of the Emotionally DisturbedMainstreaming Classified Students – Association of New York State Educators of the DeafThe Parent’s Role – National Convention, Alexander Graham Bell Association for the DeafLanguage Home Training – New York State Speech, Hearing and Language Association

New Focus

Vivian continues to be a Home Specialist, and now a Grandma Extraordinaire… Best jobs in the world!