The strength and integrity of the St. Joseph Public Schools is clearly on display even if you look no further than the huge pool of candidates who applied for the Superintendent’s position in recent weeks. That pool of 19 educators has now been trimmed to 5 finalists who will be interviewed by the Board of Education.
The St. Joseph Public Schools Board of Education has moved forward in the process of selecting their new Superintendent of Schools, after 19 submitted applications for the position. The applicant pool consisted of current superintendents, central office administrators and principals.
Although most applicants were from Michigan, the position attracted interest from Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. After a thorough paper screen, the Board has invited five educators to be interviewed.
The first round interviews will be held this Friday, March 26th and Saturday, March 27th. The interviews will be conducted in person with the Board. In order to follow safety protocols, only people directly involved in the process will be onsite. The public is welcomed to view the live stream of these important interviews on the St. Joe Bears YouTube Channel at the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvZRJK-Xwu0NrHKVqwbh-GA
The link will also be posted at the St. Joseph Public Schools website on the superintendent search tab.
All interviews will be held in the SJPS Central Office Board Room located at 2580 S. Cleveland Avenue in St. Joseph.
To see photos of the finalists, click this link: SJ-Superintendent-Candidates
The interview schedule is as follows:
- Friday, March 26th at 3:00 pm: Nkenge Bergan, Director of Student Services, Kalamazoo Public Schools
- Friday, March 26th at 4:30 pm: Greg Blomgren, Principal of St. Joseph High School
- Friday, March 26th at 6:00 pm: Shane Peters, Superintendent, Bridgman Public Schools
- Saturday, March 27th at 9:00 am: Jennifer Fee, Assistant Superintendent, East Grand Rapids Public Schools
- Saturday, March 27th at 10:30 am: Rene Sanchez, Assistant Superintendent, South Bend Public Schools
Public comment regarding the candidates will be gathered using a survey for each candidate that will be available during the interviews. The links to those surveys will be provided on the St.Joseph Public Schools website under the tab for the superintendent search.
Board President, Barry Conybeare says, “We were pleased with the applicant pool and interest demonstrated in the St. Joseph Public Schools, especially with all the openings across the state. We believe there are quality candidates that may meet our needs and expectations. We look forward to finding out more about the candidates’ leadership abilities and what each candidate has to offer our students, staff and community. The Board continues to appreciate the input from the public and encourages people to view the interviews.”
The process has been facilitated by the Michigan Leadership Institute.
