Dear Parents and Families:
We are thrilled to announce the selection of Dr. Leigh Anne Neal to serve as the next Superintendent of the Five Town Community School District and Camden-Rockport Schools School District.
A visionary leader with more than 30 years of experience as an educator, Neal currently serves as the Chief of Strategic Initiatives for the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas. She began her career as a special education and elementary classroom teacher before spending more than two decades in leadership at the school building and district level. Throughout her tenure, Dr. Neal has championed innovation, early childhood education, and real-world learning to ensure students have the foundation necessary for lifelong success.
Dr. Neal shares the values we hold dear in our schools and in our communities. Throughout the selection process, she has demonstrated a deep commitment to what makes our schools special–outdoor and hands-on learning opportunities, promoting student agency, meeting the needs of all of our students, empowering our educators to lead and innovate, and putting students at the center of our decision-making. She brings a wealth of instructional and operational experience to build on the strong foundation we have in our schools, deepen community connections, and continue to provide the world-class education our students deserve.
We are thrilled to welcome her to our district and community, and we thank you for your valuable input throughout this process through our listening sessions and online survey. A Hiring Committee made up of Board members, administrators, educators, and parents reviewed all applications and conducted the first round of interviews. Finalists for the Superintendent position participated in site visits at all three schools, and final interviews were conducted by the School Board, which approved the hiring of Dr. Neal this evening.
You can read a message from Dr. Neal here and watch a welcome video from her here.
We’ll be announcing opportunities to meet and get to know Dr. Neal over the coming months as she joins our community.
Best,
Marcus Mrowka, Five Town Community School District Board Chair
Brie Gutierrez, Camden-Rockport Schools School Board Chair
One CHRHS teacher shared, "I absolutely loved the keynote speaker - in my opinion he was by far one of the best we have had in my 25 years at CHRHS! What a great way to start a new school year!" Another commented, "I don’t think we could have had a better keynote speaker."
Wes affirmed the important role and value of teachers in our society, cautioned against jumping on every new bandwagon, and encouraged teachers to forge strong relationships.
