Mt.

Pleasant Community School District

"Learning for a Lifetime"
Central Office
400 East Madison Street
Mt. Pleasant, lA 52641
Dr. John A. Roederer, Superintendent
Paul Beatty, Director of Instruction
W. Edward Chabal, Business Manager
Phone: 319-385-7750 Fax: 319-385-7788
0, the
March 21, 2012
To whom it may concern:
This letter of recommendation regards my support for Dina Saunders as a candidate for admission into your Educational
Leadership program. My reflections are based on my interaction with Mrs. Saunders as her building principal for two
years and most recently as Director of Instruction. In those years, three qualities emerged that reflect an exceptional
candidate for education leadership. Those qualities include devoted student advocate, intellectually curious educator
and a perceptive professional.
Mrs. Saunders devotion to her students is unquestionable as demonstrated in her work ethic that extends well beyond
the contract hours. Working with English Language Learners, Mrs. Saunders advocates for her students with the whole
child perspective. While many are prone to enabling, Mrs. Saunders has a keen notion of supporting the student
without diminishing their independence. She draws much passion from her family's immigrant heritage to continuously
serve her students despite the challenging number and diversity of students on her roster.
Mrs. Saunders is likewise intellectually curious as an educator who seeks continuous growth in the tools and
understanding of her craft. Mrs. Saunders thinks deeply about the effectiveness of the interventions, curriculum and
assessment that she utilizes to seek growth and achievement for her students. This enables her to be flexible in her
approach with students, as well as, her professional peers. An example of her efforts has been to work with her fellow
ELLinstructors to learn and share about the Sheltered Instruction Model of student instructional support.
Finally, I'm enthusiastic in strongly recommending Mrs. Saunders as I've observed her demonstrate an ability to think
comprehensively about situations from the student/family perspective, the teacher perspective, the program
perspective and the district perspective. An educational leader has to be able to recognize and weigh the many
tradeoffs that are present in many situations. Mrs. Saunders has the ability to "walk in the shoes of others" as she
contributes to problem-solving in many complicated situations. Mrs. Saunders will be a strong learner within your
program, but will also contribute much to the learning of her peers in the program.
Sincerely,
~".~~ ()ij(
Paul Beatty 6
Director of Instruction