The Bluewater District School Board has announced the appointment of Erin O’Grady as superintendent of education, effective Aug. 1.
The move coincides with the retirement of Sheryl Elliott, who filled in as superintendent of education this past year after coming out of retirement.
“Erin ticks a lot of boxes that we were looking for in a new superintendent,” says Bluewater District School Board Director of Education AJ Keene. “Her experience really fits the bill well.”
O’Grady spent a decade teaching in the Ottawa area before becoming a vice-principal, principal and head of student services at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
“The position we were looking to fill is taking over the student success portfolio,” says Keene. “Which is highly focused on (Grades) 7 to 12 but specifically a lot of our secondary programming.”
He added that she brings a wealth of secondary school experience to the role, while also being highly organized and a great communicator.
She is excited about helping educators and school leaders use evidence, innovation and strong instructional practice to improve student outcomes, and believes that strong systems are built through strong relationships with staff, students, families, trustees and partners.
With O’Grady’s hiring alongside the addition of Papy Mukenge a few weeks ago, the board has added a fourth district to allow superintendents to visit schools more often.
“The new restructure will allow superintendents to be in our schools every three to four weeks, so we should see them more,” says Keene.
The goal of having superintendents in schools more often, he says, is to be able to talk to staff more, get a better feel for each unique school and offer more support to individual principals.