Michael D. Rettig

    Michael D. Rettig is the founder of School Scheduling Associates, LLC. He spent 15 years as a professor in the College of Education and Director of the Center for School Leadership at James Madison University (JMU), Harrisonburg, VA. He retired from JMU as Professor Emeritus in June 2006 to work full-time with schools across the country. In addition to his work in higher education, he taught public school in Syracuse, NY for 10 years and served as a school principal in Virginia for six years.

    Dr. Rettig has served as a consultant on school scheduling issues in 43 states with over 1000 schools nationally and internationally in Bermuda, Canada, Dubai, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. He also has conducted hundreds of workshops and has authored or co-authored numerous articles and books on school scheduling and related topics.

    A past president and board member of the Virginia Association of Curriculum and Supervision, he has received many awards including the Service Award from the Shenandoah chapter of Phi Delta Kappa (PDK). He was also named a Madison Scholar at James Madison University and was the recipient of the outstanding graduate student award through PDK at the University of Virginia. He and his wife Sally live in Charlottesville, Virginia. Together they have three children.

    Work Focus: Workshops and consultations related to elementary, middle and high school scheduling.

    View Dr. Rettig’s workshop descriptions and materials

        Robert Lynn Canady

        Robert Lynn Canady is Professor Emeritus and former chair, Department of Leadership, Foundations and Policy Studies, University of Virginia. He has taught in grades 4 through 12, served as principal of elementary, middle, and junior high schools, and held positions in school district central offices.

        Professor Canady has worked extensively with school districts in 45 states. His major presentations have been in the areas of grading practices, active teaching strategies, implementing programs for at-risk students, and restructuring schools through various types of scheduling and instructional strategies.

        Professor Canady has received numerous awards for outstanding teaching and service including the Phi Delta Kappa Distinguished Service Award, the Outstanding Professor Award in the School of Education, University of Virginia, two university-wide awards for distinguished teaching and service, and many others. He has published more than 50 articles on the topics of school scheduling and grading in respected educational journals and has co-authored five books. He and his wife, Marjorie, live in Albemarle County, Virginia, where they reared their four children.

        Work Focus: Workshops and consultations related to elementary, middle and high school scheduling and grading.

        View Professor Canady’s workshop descriptions and materials

            Daniel R. Rettig

            Daniel R. Rettig is an 11-year veteran math teacher in the Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia. For the past four summers he has apprenticed for School Scheduling Associates working with over 20 different schools and districts. He has been instrumental in formatting, indexing, and uploading the over 500 schedules now included in the Library of School Schedules. He and his wife Erin, an elementary counselor in the Henrico County Public Schools, are the proud parents of two wonderful children.

                Harriet J. Hopkins

                Harriet J. Hopkins is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership.  During her career, Dr. Hopkins has been an elementary school teacher and principal in Fairfax County (Va) Public Schools and also served as Director of Professional Development in Alexandria City (Va) Public Schools.  While working at Public Broadcasting Service, she was director of PBS TeacherLine, an online professional development program for teachers. 

                Dr. Hopkins has been an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia, James Madison University and George Mason University in Virginia.  She has served as a consultant on school scheduling throughout the United States.  Her dissertation is entitled, The Effects of Parallel Block Scheduling on Teachers and Students in Parallel Block Scheduled Schools and Traditionally Scheduled Schools.   Dr. Hopkins has also co-authored articles about parallel block scheduling published in the Curriculum Update of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and Principal magazine.     

                Dr. Hopkins has served on the board of the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, most recently as president.  She recently received the school’s distinguished alumni award.  She and her husband, Jerry, live in Oakton, Virginia.  They have two children.    

                Work focus:  Workshops and consultations related to elementary scheduling and professional development.

                    Susan W. Golder

                    Susan W. Golder has devoted her career to creating active and engaging classrooms that meet the individual learning needs of students. She has spent over 30 years serving the Pennsylvania Public School System, most recently as a Director of Elementary Education and formerly as a K-12 Director of Professional Development and a Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Over the course of her career, she has coached, trained, and supervised hundreds of new and veteran teachers. She also coordinates change processes for school districts by facilitating administrative retreats, coaching sessions and project planning, implementation and support.  

                    Susan’s 22 years as a classroom teacher serve her well in her present role as an educational consultant. She knows first-hand how challenging educational change can be when an infrastructure or a school culture may not support it. She devotes her professional time to helping principals, central office leaders, and teachers prepare, implement, and sustain new and improved schedules to support their educational goals for students. Over the years, she has facilitated hundreds of workshops locally and nationally on topics, such as differentiated instruction and assessment, effective supervision, standards-based grading and reporting, and professional learning communities.     

                    Susan earned her master’s degree from Penn State University and her doctorate from Nova Southeastern University where her dissertation focused on Learning Communities Engaged in Data-Driven Supervision.    Her research evolved into effective practice when she and her colleagues earned the Pennsylvania ASCD’s Award for Exemplary Practices in Supervision. Susan’s publications have appeared in ASCD’s Educational Leadership and NCTE’s English Leadership Quarterly. She is a contributing author in Robert Canady and Michael Rettig’s 2008 book, Elementary School Scheduling: Enhancing Instruction for Student Achievement. She and her husband, Charlie have three children and share their time between Pennsylvania and Maine.    

                    Work focus:  Consultations and workshops related to scheduling reform steps and successful transitions through the “before,” “during,” and “after” tasks; Trainings on Effective Use of Intervention/Enrichment Time.