PEOPLE John Craft Northside ISD superintendent
BY SAMARA PENNY
2023 EDUCATION EDITION
THE MISSION Coming into this leadership position, John Craft said he—along with the board of trustees—is developing goals and initiatives he’d like to implement this upcoming year and those to follow.
John Craft, a former coach and principal, was picked in February to be the new superintendent for Northside ISD. Craft attended the University of North Texas where he found his desire to join the education eld. He began his career as a coach and biology teacher, moving his way up to a principal position, and eventually being named as the superintendent of Mans eld ISD and later Killeen ISD. Craft explained it’s been a smooth transition to NISD, and he said he truly has a passion and a love for seeing students reach their maximum poten- tial while learning. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
SAFETY Provide a safe learning environment to include security vestibules, armed security o cers and silent panic technology. Create a culture and a climate where students feel comfortable. Ensure there’s no bullying. Focus on social emotional learning and the development of the whole child. STAFFING Hire highly quali ed instructors. Increase sta ng levels through competitive compensation. Retain sta by creating a collaborative team culture. ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT Maintain and promote high academic achievement expectations for students. Close the learning gaps associated with COVID-19, particularly in the area of mathematics. Expand academic opportunities through partnerships and programs, such as magnet schools, dual credit and workforce readiness. SUPPORT FAMILIES O er adult education. Participate in the food bank, ensuring that families receive meals. Make counseling services available.
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO HELP RECRUIT AND RETAIN TEACH ERS AND STAFF? The board has agreed and already passed a 3% general pay increase for all sta , to include teachers, administrators and our auxiliary sta , such as our custodians, school nutrition sta and bus drivers, because we recognize, again, it’s a team e ort. The board approved what we call a retention stipend. We’re using [Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief] funds, particularly for critical shortage areas of $2,500 [per stipend awarded]. We feel like that is going to go a long way. Those are initiatives that we’re working on from a compensation standpoint. I do think that the culture and the cli- mate of the workplace is so import- ant. We want to create a culture and a climate where individuals want to come to work every day. HOW WILL THE DISTRICT CON TINUE HELPING STUDENTS CATCH UP AFTER COVID 19? I think that so much of helping students catch up or meeting students where they are and their
needs is assessing the learning gaps early on using assessments. We use what’s called a measure of academic progress at the very beginning of the year. Then, really working in small groups and with interventions that are prescribed to each indi- vidual student’s learning needs to shore up those gaps is going to be so important. I think that we’ve got to have a really strong and intentional focus, particularly on some of our students that are most vul- nerable, in particular some of our most impoverished students and campuses. They’ll need additional support and resources. WHAT IS YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE? I think that you have to lead from the front. I think that also you have to exhibit vulnerability. You have to be a servant leader. This is a philos- ophy that I’ve just adopted at the very onset of my education career that if you take a servant’s heart and you lead from the front, not dictating, and you lead in a collab- orative manner, you can get some really positive results. My intention of leading not only our students,
but also our faculty and our sta is going to be very supportive and collaborative, and that’s all through the development of relationships. WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO GET TO KNOW THE DISTRICT? One of the things that I’m very committed to is I will be visiting all 125 campuses this upcoming school year. Another initiative that we implemented this past spring is we will bring groups of students from each high school campus together to have conversations in and around what’s working, and where are some areas that we might need to improve [their] educational experience—to really learn and hear from our students. WHAT KIND OF SUPERINTEN DENT DO YOU WANT TO BE? I want to be the superintendent that has an open door. I want to be the superintendent that is viewed as a collaborator, as someone that is always willing to try to assist in facilitating learning environments that are going to be conducive to students reaching their maximum potential.
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NORTH SAN ANTONIO EDITION • AUGUST 2023
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