Staff Spotlight: Josue Falaise, Ed.D.

Josue Falaise, Ed.D. is a Rutgers University alum with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Rutgers Newark College of Arts and Sciences (NCAS). He received his Master of Arts in Education Administration and Supervision from St. Peters University and holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.

His pursuit of higher education brought him to the GSE as the Director of the Rutgers Institute for Improving Student Achievement (RIISA). “I have always wanted to come back to Rutgers in some capacity. However, working for the GSE is a dream come true for me. As soon as the opportunity came up I quickly applied, gave it my all and here I am,” stated Falaise.

His current role as the RIISA director is to offer powerful learning opportunities to educators. The goal is for these opportunities to connect research and practice for K-12 school educators across the state and beyond. RIISA offers conferences, in-district workshops, network building, symposiums, and global learning experiences. Falaise has two decades of experience in education. Before coming to the GSE, he was a principal for 14 years. This role made him realize that he has had a tremendous amount of experience in multiple tasks/projects, from systems and operations to the supervision of staff and students.

Falaise reflects, “When I stepped into the role of an assistant superintendent, I went from overseeing one school in a district with 60 staff members, 420 students a $200,000 budget to overseeing 21 different schools with 1,800 staff members and 11,000 students and a $293 million budget.” This opportunity to work with and support staff was a big shift for him and how he thought about leadership. He is very thankful for the experience because he has developed professional relationships with and has been connected to key district leaders across the state. 

As someone who is dedicated to his craft, Falaise spends much of his free time with his family as well as attending edcamps and hackathons. He is married with two children. His hobbies include reading the bible and researching educational articles, journals, and books that influence his professional work.

Falaise shares a piece of life advice, “Welcome to the grey. Sometimes things in life are black and white until you realize that life is malleable and you shouldn’t be stiff with your expectations. Sometimes grey is good because it leads you to a different path that you may not have expected. It’s important to be open-minded.”