Meet Leadership in Science

We are experts in translating standards and research into practice, building on teacher and administrator expertise to drive district-wide improvement.

Stacey van der Veen, Founder and Lead Consultant
[email protected]
Stacey (Gruber) van der Veen has extensive experience designing and delivering professional development programs to support New Jersey school districts as they implement the Next Generation Science Standards.  She partners with administrators, school boards, and parent and community groups to educate the public about the NGSS.  

Before founding Leadership In Science, Stacey was the Manager of Education Programs for the Merck Institute for Science Education (MISE), a nationally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to improving science teaching and learning in public schools.  
She started her career teaching science and math at high schools in Newark, New Jersey, and New York City and has over 20 years of K-12 teaching and administrative experience in both public and private schools. She co-founded the Hoboken Charter School, one of the first cohort of schools chartered in New Jersey, where she served as Co-Coordinator,  and Child Study Team Coordinator.  Stacey earned her Ed.M. in secondary science education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her B.A. in biology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Our Partner School Districts
Leadership in Science has provided professional development and support to the following districts:

• Branchburg Township School District
• Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District
• School District of the Chathams
• Denville Township School District
• East Brunswick Public Schools
• Emerson Public Schools
• Essex County Vocational-Technical High School
• Ewing Public Schools
• Flemington-Raritan Regional School District
• Freehold Township Regional High School District
• Glen Rock Public Schools
• Golden Door Charter School
• Hamilton Township School District
• Hillsborough Township School District
• Hillside Public Schools
• Hoboken Charter School
• Howell Township Public Schools
• Irvington Public Schools
• Jefferson Township Public Schools
• Kearney Public Schools
• Kittatinny Regional High School District
• Learning Community Charter School
• Linden Public Schools
• Little Egg Harbor Township School District*
• Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District
• Mendham Township School District
• Millburn Township Public Schools
• Monroe Township School District
• Montgomery Township School District
• Newark Public Schools
• North Brunswick Public Schools
• Northern Valley Regional School District
• North Penn School District (PA)
• North Plainfield School District
• Pequannock Township School District
• Pinelands Regional School District
• Princeton Public Schools
• Rahway Public Schools
• Ramsey School District
• Readington Township Public Schools
• Tewksbury Township Schools
• Somerville Public Schools
• Sparta Township Public School District
• Timothy Christian School
• Warren Township Schools
• Wayne Public Schools
• Westfield Public Schools
• West Milford Township Public Schools
• West Orange Public Schools
• West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District

*Workshops in Little Egg Harbor Township includes teachers from 10 additional surrounding districts

** Prior to 2018, Leadership in Science was known as NGSSPD Consultants

Teacher Leaders
Leadership in Science partners with a Higher-Ed consortium consisting of the Science Education Institute at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC), the Rider University Science Education and Literacy Center (SELECT) and the Princeton University Teacher Preparation Program to support the NGSS Teacher Leader Program.   The program prepares educators to take a leadership role in New Jersey’s implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Teacher Leaders co-facilitate a series of workshops focused on supporting their colleagues as they begin to bring the new national standards into their classrooms. The program provides opportunities for K-12 classroom teachers to deepen their understanding of all aspects of the NGSS while developing collaborative and leadership skills, with the ultimate goal of sharing their expertise with their district colleagues.

The program was developed in response to the adoption of the NGSS as New Jersey’s state science standards and the need to support school districts in preparing for and implementing these new standards.