LM Nov-Dec 2025

Superintendent of

the Year Leyden CHSD #212

IASA: Is creating opportunities sort of an overarching theme in your work?

NP: I think everything is about outcomes for students. As a former math teacher, I always talk about it in terms of trajectory. Every kid is on a trajectory when we inherit them. And if we can improve that trajectory by even one degree, it might not be noticeable in the moment, but the place they land 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now is completely different. Everything we do should be about improving that trajectory for kids. IASA: One of those opportunities is Co.Lab. Can you discuss what it is and why you and your team created it? NP: Co.Lab is kind of a redesigned version of freshman year. We had a group of teachers we called the Innovation Incubator that we set loose to say, dream big and think about how we can do school differently. Through many iterations, they came back with what became Co.Lab. It’s like if you could imagine, what if school classes weren’t separate? What if we taught

them combined? So instead of doing science for 45 minutes, ringing a bell and going to another room and doing English for 45 minutes, what if it was all taught together? We have this team of amazing teachers that works with about 100 to 120 students at each of our high schools. In addition to learning their content, they learn confidence in public speaking, they engage with the community, they become more connected to the school community. Years later, when we look back at the data, one thing that jumped off the paper is that when students participate in Co.Lab versus the traditional course path, their graduation rate four years later is three to four to five points higher. Kids are getting connected to the community and finding success, and that’s playing out with their ultimate success in high school.

7 LM Nov–Dec 2025 continued...