To the Editor:

I am writing today to voice my enthusiastic support for my friend and fellow Community Park and Princeton Middle School parent, Erica Snyder, as she runs for a seat on the PPS Board of Education.

My husband and I have lived in Princeton with our family for more than 20 years. Our daughter is a sophomore at PHS, and our son recently began sixth grade at PMS. Both children attended the Dual-Language Immersion Program at Community Park (CP).

I first met Erica, her husband Paul, and their three kids not long after they moved to Princeton in 2021. As our sons became friends in the classroom and through team sports, I got to know and appreciate Erica as a parent who had similar values as I, but also as someone who had a particularly insightful point of view as it pertained to our kids’ paths through the public school district.

Then last year, when Erica became a co-PTO president at CP, her skillset was on full display: Never in the 10 years I’d been an active parent at the school had we enjoyed such organization, clear communication, and collaborative conversation to discuss new ideas and approaches to some of the time-worn practices. She was a breath of calm, rational, informed fresh air, and as we worked alongside each other as fifth grade room parents, I quickly learned that she was so much more: She was smart and educated, but never condescending; she made efficient, strategic, and thoughtful decisions, but always took the time to understand all of the angles. She asked questions and did her research, whether we were pricing out playground equipment or examining the current district curriculums in math and world languages.

I soon learned that Erica did not come by this educational aptitude accidentally. Born to educator parents, Erica had always wanted to be a teacher and so had an impressive and extensive background in education, from her experiences as a high school project-based learning specialist in Chicago and Charlotte and her roles in bilingual and ESL education; to her more recent tenure on the PTO Council, as a second-term co-PTO president of Community Park, and the director of Cherry Hill Nursery School.

It became clear to me rather quickly that this new friend of mine was the real deal, and her abilities and expertise could be put to the best and highest use beyond the walls of our elementary school.

I know I am not alone in my concerns over how the district’s frequent senior administration changes and the learning loss due to COVID have unsettled our kids, and I believe Erica is just the person to help guide us in the search for a new, trustworthy, committed superintendent and to close the educational gaps for those who call PPS their educational home. Erica’s intelligence, tenacity, commitment to transparency, willingness to innovate, and passionate concern for every child in this district is just what we need to move forward with integrity, honesty, and efficiency.

Jennifer Henderson
Allison Road