After former superintendent Dr. Rusty Clifford’s  announcement to resign last year, the School Board quickly took action in its search for a successor. After interviewing multiple candidates (including one from our own district) the board chose Dr. Andrea Townsend, Ed.D, to be our next superintendent.

Dr. Townsend received her undergraduate degree from Ohio Dominican in Elementary Education, her Master’s from McDaniel College in Administration and Supervision, and her Doctorate from Walden University. She has taught grades K-3 and middle school science. She was also an assistant principal in elementary and middle school and a pre-K-12 principal. She later moved into a director position in Springfield for three years before becoming a superintendent in New Bremen’s school district.

After being chosen as our superintendent, Dr. Townsend spent the summer and the start of the new school year exploring the district and community.

“I have been so impressed with the District and community. The community, students, and staff are very welcoming and the community is full of wonderful people who are very proud of West Carrollton,” Dr. Townsend said.

Aside from getting out into the community, Dr. Townsend is working alongside a State Support Team to create a District improvement plan (through Ohio Improvement Process) aimed to increase attendance and improve instructional practices.

Dr. Townsend herself has several goals for the district. Her most important is to improve student achievement and the climate of the school. “We are focusing on ELA [English/Language Arts] this year and will expand to math next year. We have adopted the iReady to have common assessments K-12 to measure student progress. The test data allows teachers/staff to meet the needs of students, gives curriculum support, and offers suggestions to help each student.”

In addition to those goals, it is Dr. Townsend’s hope to pass a Bond Levy and build new 21st-century buildings in the district over the next five years. The district has just started the process with the Ohio Schools Facility Commissions and WCSD could receive 77% of our funding from the state to build if we pass a bond in 2019. The goal is to create innovative buildings that will support the needs of our current and future students for several years to come.

In addition to strengthening the school’s academics, Dr. Townsend is a big supporter of sports and extracurriculars. “I am working on new processes to hire coaches and extracurricular staff using a community forum model that seeks out input from students, parents, and community members. This allows team members to find a coach that has the characteristics and traits that the team members need to grow the program. I am very active in seeking out information regarding extracurricular programs and finding innovative ways to participate and support programs.”