Mrs. Pamela Criss, who currently serves as the Literacy Support Coach in the Little Rock School District, will join the North Little Rock School District as the Coordinator of Early Childhood and School Readiness.
Mrs. Criss will begin this role on July 1, 2022.
In this role, Mrs. Criss will ensure a high level of instructional leadership to create systems, processes, structures, and procedures to eliminate gaps in student learning in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and primary grades. She will also supervise the general operation
of the Arkansas Better Chance Early Childhood programs with a focus on improved student
performance and building professional capacity of classroom teachers and school-based leaders.
Mrs. Criss began her teaching career as a Third Grade Teacher. She also served as a Hearing
Impaired Specialist and a Special Education Teacher. She then transitioned as an Instruction
Facilitator and Coach at Chicot Primary and Baseline Academy, where she implemented
school-wide assessments to monitor student achievement and assisted teachers with placing
students in appropriate intervention and support services. As the District Literacy Support
Coach, she collaborates with building-level coaches to provide best practices to them using
student data.
“I look forward to this new role in the North Little Rock School District,” Mrs. Criss said. “I am
ready to work with the administrators, teachers, and families as we make sure our district’s
youngest students are not only ready for school but also positioned to thrive,” she said.
Mrs. Criss earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Administration from
Harding University and a Master’s in Counseling with an emphasis is Deafness from the
University of Arkansas. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education in Deaf
Education and General Education. Mrs. Criss also received an English as a Second Language
(ESOL) endorsement from Arkansas Tech University.
Mrs. Criss is a K-6th R.I.S.E. Trainer of Teachers with the Arkansas Department of Education.
“I welcome Mrs. Criss to this district,” said Dr. Gregory J. Pilewski, Superintendent of the North
Little Rock School District. “I look forward to her leadership in preparing our students to be
exceptional scholars,” he added.
The Coordinator of Early Childhood and School Readiness is one of the reorganized Central
Office Administration positions in the North Little Rock School District, which Dr. Pilewski
proposed in the NLRSD Central Office Administration Reorganization Plan (Phase I) and
presented at the Regular Board Meeting in February. The plan was created to improve the level
of services and support to school leaders and classroom teachers to drive continuous
improvement in student learning.