AASA Central | Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent, Slate Valley Unified School District, Fair Haven, Vt. and Zach McLaughlin, Superintendent, Springfield School District, Springfield, Vt.
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Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent, Slate Valley Unified School District, Fair Haven, Vt. and Zach McLaughlin, Superintendent, Springfield School District, Springfield, Vt.

Vermont: Leaders Matter 


Nominated By: Jeffrey D. Francis, Executive Director, Vermont Superintendents Association


Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent, Slate Valley Unified School District, Fair Haven, Vt.

http://www.slatevalleyunified.org

In February 2018, in just her first year as superintendent, Superintendent Brooke Olsen-Farrell led her district through a school safety crisis – the attempted school shooting of her district’s high school by a former student. The events made state and national news and have since been recounted in a podcast: http://projects.vpr.net/jolted.

Olsen-Farrell has exemplified what it means to be a leader in a period of crisis. She continues to lead her community through a period of fear and uncertainty with grace and conviction. Along with her leadership within her school community, she has become a leading voice and advocate on school safety in the state of Vermont.

Exemplars of Leadership:

  • Demonstrated strong leadership in time of crisis.
  • Provided example to be emulated by other superintendents facing crisis management situation.

 

Zach McLaughlin, Superintendent, Springfield School District, Springfield, Vt.

https://www.ssdvt.org/

Superintendent Zach McLaughlin developed a robust network of community partnerships to provide wraparound services to students in his district.

Two key characteristics of Zach’s leadership in his district include (1) understanding that he cannot lead alone — collaboration is key to doing right by kids and (2) recognizing that the role of schools extends beyond academic achievement.

McLaughlin plans and works toward serving the whole child and breaking down barriers to success, such as poverty.

Exemplars of Leadership:

  • Exhibits leadership style that is participatory.
  • Emphasizes programming designed to meet the needs of students particularly those facing barriers to achievement.

To learn more about the superintendents profiled in AASA’s Leaders Matter campaign, visit https://aasacentral.org/leadersmatter/. To join the conversation via Twitter, please access #LeadersMatter.

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