SOUTHWICK – Jennifer Willard officially became the Superintendent of the Southwick-Tolland-Granville school district on July 1, 2016 and has just completed her first year at the head of the district.
In her first stint as a Superintendent, Willard looks back and certainly hasn’t regretted her decision.
“Coming to Southwick-Tolland-Granville, I knew from the beginning, I just knew it was the right fit for me,” said Willard. “The staff, students, and parents are just truly an amazing group of people to work with.”
With the town of Southwick having a population of less than 10,000 people, the small-hometown feel is what had always attracted Willard to her current position.
“It’s like a family, it’s coming into a family every single day,” said Willard.
During the past school year Willard can point to numerous successful advancements occurring throughout the district. One of the key highlights has been the shift to student-centered classrooms. Willard described this as the teacher taking more risks and having the student do the majority of the work.
Superintendent Jen Willard. (Photo courtesy of Greg Fitzpatrick)
The athletics in the schools was also noteworthy, as the district hired a consultant who came in to help better the culture and environment that Willard wanted in the athletic department in the district. It consists of more than just winning, but rather about the core values that they want students to stand for.
Being a Superintendent, the responsibilities not only include helping improve the district as a whole, but also dealing with any hardships or issues that directly concern the district. The closing of the Granville Village School was not an easy situation to handle, yet Willard feels that her approach to it is one that she plans on using in the future; which is to move slowly, listen, and collect data.
“Everybody has opposing viewpoints and different interests,” said Willard.
Moving forward, Willard is sticking with the main goal that she had when she first began her tenure, which is to create an entry plan and discover who they are as a school district.
“My goal for this year was to create a vision,” said Willard.
Entering year two, Willard said that the next step will be to start implementing some of those changes in the entry plan.
Although Willard is certainly happy with how her first year fared as Superintendent, she is even more ecstatic about what is to come in the near future.
“I’m really excited about next year,” said Willard. “In a small community you do have the opportunity to focus on teaching and learning.”
The first day of school for the district is Sept. 1. For more information on the district, visit their website.
