Kale, Unions Set Superintendent’s Stage

She brought a teacher’s perspective, and food. He brought a managerial background and new union allies. Together, they celebrated the beginning of a new superintendency that pledged to honor the ​“covenant” of labor and management.

The celebration took place Thursday evening at the downtown Shubert Theater, where educators and politicos gathered for a ​“community celebration” in honor of schools Superintendent Garth Harries. The event, paid for with private funds, was the first big party marking Harries’ promotion to superintendent in July.

The event put a spotlight on Harries’ relationship with labor — as well as with his wife, Dina Brewster, a former public school teacher.

Brewster runs an organic farm called The Hickories in Ridgefield. She has remained behind the scenes, a scarce sight in New Haven political life. On Thursday, her public debut, she also displayed her farm’s produce for public consumption.

Her contributions included kielbasa, which was sliced, placed onto skewers with pineapples, and laid on a bed of greens …

… salsa made from organic tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro, packaged by Palmieri Foods of Hamilton Street; decorative turnips; and beds of kale on which rested little cubes of cheese.

In a brief speech from the top of the grand staircase in the Shubert lobby, Harries acknowledged his wife (at center, with Harries’ parents at right and sister-in-law and nieces at left). They met in New York a decade ago when he was working as a top adviser to then-schools Chancellor Joel Klein. At the time, she was a New York City public school teacher who would frequent protests organized by the teachers union. Brewster taught in New York public schools for eight years before moving to Ridgefield to work full-time on her family farm.

Harries, who’s 41, does not have a background as an educator, besides one year he spent teaching in a private school in Colorado. Harries got a law degree from Stanford and worked as a consultant for McKinsey and Company before Klein hired him in 2003. He said he learned from Brewster how to listen to teachers and talk to them in a way that respects their perspectives. He said he honors that influence with his work in New Haven, which is ​“setting a model for the covenant that exists between labor and management.” New Haven has earned national praise for its efforts to improve its schools, mostly for the way that the district has collaborated with the teachers union.

Harries joined New Haven schools in 2009 as the assistant superintendent and architect of the city’s nascent school reform drive, working under the tutelage of longtime Superintendent Reggie Mayo. He moved up to the school system’s top job when Mayo retired in July.

Now, as Harries steps out on his own, two union leaders stood beside him.

Teachers union President Dave Cicarella praised Harries as ​“incredibly respectful” of teachers’ voices, and ​“a very good listener.” He said Harries has been ​“patient, even when my Mediterranean blood begins to boil.” And he credited Harries, despite his Yale College and Stanford Law degrees, for never coming off as thinking he’s smarter than, or better than, the person he’s talking to.

“We salute you, and we look forward to working with you,” said Ross/Woodward Principal Cheryl Brown, the new president of the school administrators union, adding her endorsement. She was elected union president in July, replacing former Wilbur Cross Principal Peggy Moore, who retired.

The teachers union just settled a second landmark contract that stays the course of the city’s school change initiative. The administrators union is still in negotiations on a new contract to succeed the one that expires on July 1, 2014. Brown said she had no comment on the negotiations.

In another gesture of good relations, Mayor-Elect Toni Harp showed up at the party to pay her respects.

In his remarks, Harries pledged to listen to students. He got some practice Thursday, when the Wilbur Cross jazz band played.

The event was paid for by private funds and organized by Assistant Superintendent Imma Canelli. The Shubert provided the space for free. Attendees had to pay for their drinks from the bar. And the food was provided by two benefactors: a private donor who went to Harries’ high school, and Harries’ wife.

Brewster (at right in photo) said unlike in New York, her professional life here seldom intersects with Harries’. His work is in New Haven. Hers is in Ridgefield. She said she was delighted to donate some of her last crops of the season to Thursday’s affair, and to team up with and honor her husband.

“This is a dream he’s had for so long,” she said.