Sunday, June 22, 2014
Staff report
EAST LIVERPOOL
Melissa Watson, director of teaching and learning for Warren City Schools, will officially become superintendent of East Liverpool City Schools on Aug. 1.
It is the third major position at Warren City Schools to become vacant in the past 10 days. The Warren superintendent, Michael Notar, was hired as superintendent of Conneaut City Schools on June 10, and school-board member Rhonda Baldwin-Amorganos resigned about that same time to take a job with the Ohio Department of Education.
Watson will begin working as a consultant in East Liverpool on July 1.
Watson worked as curriculum director for the Trumbull County Educational Service Center prior to her current job, and before that, she was a principal at Warren City Schools.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1992, a master’s degree in 1999 and a doctorate from Youngstown State University in 2012.
Watson was “very clear with the board [at East Liverpool] in laying out her vision for the school system and is looking forward to making an impact in the lives of our children,” according to a press release from East Liverpool City Schools.
“East Liverpool Schools is bursting with potential,” Watson said in a statement. “The district is on the cusp of turning the corner academically, and I look forward to bringing my experience in curriculum to the district to help continue to move it forward.”
Every child deserves a school where they are “safe, invited and master-taught,” Watson said, explaining that these are concepts she learned from working with author and consultant Kathy Hamilton.
The East Liverpool Board of Education received help from the Columbiana County Educational Service Center to prioritize the needs of the district and identify what is needed from the next superintendent.
The Educational Service Center also processed and collected applications, verifying references, certifications and vetting the candidates.