Dr. Jacqueline A. Young has been an educator for more than 30 years. She received her B.A. from Douglas College and her M.Ed. and Ed.D. from Rutgers University Graduate School of Education. Dr. Young began her career as an Elementary School Teacher in the Newark Public Schools. She then worked as an Elementary School Teacher and a Reading Resource Teacher for the East Orange School District. In 1980, she joined the New Jersey Department of Education as a Basic Skills Consultant and soon became a School Program Coordinator. In that capacity, she served as a facilitator between the Essex County Office of Education and the special needs urban districts for school improvement activities.
Since 1982, Dr. Young has been at the Essex Regional Educational Services Commission (ERESC) where she has held several positions including Supervisor of Instruction and Director of Services to Nonpublic Schools. In 1992, she assumed the position of Superintendent. Under her leadership and direction, the ERESC has grown into the largest educational services commission in the State of New Jersey. The ERESC provides services to local school districts, agencies and nonpublic schools throughout northern New Jersey.
Over half of Dr. Young’s career has been spent championing the needs of special education and at risk students. During her tenure at the ERESC, she has assisted school districts by developing programs and establishing schools to meet the needs of those students who have difficulty functioning in traditional school settings. These schools incorporate strategies and techniques conducive to the educational and emotional needs of the students in an environment with a low student/teacher ratio. In September 1997, Dr. Young assumed the responsibility of establishing a school for pre-adjudicated adolescents in the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center in Newark which is now called Sojourn High School. Sojourn High School addresses the specific needs of the students using a combination of thematic instruction and service learning. For the past 12 years, she and her staff have provided these students with the opportunity to earn high school diplomas from their resident school districts or GEDs. Presently, the ERESC operates the following schools: Essex Campus Academy in Fairfield; Essex Junior Academy in Bloomfield and Essex High School in Passaic in addition to Sojourn High School.
Dr. Young has received awards from a variety of organizations and communities for her work with this population of students. She is a member of the National Association of School Administrators, New Jersey Association of School Administrators, New Jersey Network of Superintendents, New Jersey Superintendents’ Study Council, Essex County Superintendents’ Group, Association of Educational Service Agencies, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, International Reading Association and Phi Delta Kappa. In addition, she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Montclair Alumnae Chapter. At this time, she is Co-Chairperson of Delta GEMS which stands for “Growing and Empowering Myself Successfully”. This program services teenage girls between the ages of 14 and 18 in grades 9-12 addressing the following areas: sisterhood, community service, scholarship, college preparation and career options. Dr. Young’s sincere concern for these young people and dedication to helping them has been a source of inspiration throughout her career.