ASD West Superintendent ‘Excited To Be Back’

David McTimoney has returned as the Anglophone West School District superintendent after a stint back in the classroom.

McTimoney took a two-year leave from his job to serve as principal of Summerhill Street Elementary School in Oromocto.

“I’m really excited to be back,” said McTimoney during a phone interview from his Fredericton office.

McTimoney had spent nine years in a district office setting, including seven as superintendent, before taking on the new role of principal in August of 2017.

He said he thought it was important to reconnect and experience first-hand how decisions made at the district level have an impact on schools.

“I really wanted to work closely with students and staff directly at the school level and contribute directly to student learning,” McTimoney said.

The placement was quite meaningful to McTimoney, who attended Summerhill Street Elementary as a student 40 years ago.

“It was rewarding and refreshing to be among students, to watch them learn, to be engaged in their learning, to listen to them,” he said. “It was really neat, as well, to see the magic of teachers as they work wonders in that classroom setting.”

"Students have such a variety of needs. We as school administrators need to rise above that to help them academically, socially and emotionally. We have to be there to support them in their growth." David McTimoney, superintendent, at leadership meetings today. @ASDWLimelight pic.twitter.com/LrsSr4My70

— ASD-West (@ASD_West) August 21, 2019

McTimoney said watching the teachers do their work reconfirmed to him that they are the most important part of the education system.

“It’s a huge responsibility as a classroom teacher and as a school principal,” he said. “Day in and day out, we need to have our game face on and be ready for anything.”

“You have to take into account the learning and assessment and all of those traditional classroom practices that we see, but also behaviours and social and emotional growth and, from time to time, crisis that might occur and celebrations.”

McTimoney said the experience was tremendous for him and encouraged other superintendents to do the same if they have the chance.

“My hope is that the experiences I gained over the last two years are going to help shape me to become a superintendent than the one that left here in 2017,” he said.

Catherine Blaney served as acting superintendent of the district, which covers communities as far north as Edmundston and as far south as Cambridge-Narrows.