Editor
The Milford Board of Education approved the hire of Nancy House on May 19, who will replace Dr. Robert Farrell as superintendent.
Farrell is retiring Dec. 31, 2016, and House, who is currently the assistant superintendent and director of human resources, will start as the superintendent Aug. 1.
“I love this community, I love the school district. I’ve been part of this district since 1993 and want to continue the great things that are going on here,” House said.
She began at Milford as an English and publications teacher, then became assistant principal at Milford High School, then principal at the high school, then the secondary curriculum director before she was hired to her current position, which began Aug. 1, 2015.
“I’m blessed to have many different roles in the district,” House said.
She is also a resident of Milford and has been since 1989. Her oldest daughter graduated from Milford High School last May and the youngest is a 10th grade student at the high school.
She feels that the district staff, while large, is a family and that every staff member has the students’ best interests at heart. In addition, House has found that the community is great at supporting the teachers and the administration.
“I’m very honored and also very humbled,” House said.
Her first goal as superintendent is to work with the school community and the larger community to look into ways to innovate and increase student achievement, which she feels is already exceptionally high.
House also wants to continue the district’s conservative spending and maintain a positive relationship between the district and the community. She plans to explore ways to develop more communication with the community, because she feels it can always be improved.
Another goal of House’s is to work with the business community more and to meet more people in the community.
Farrell believes that House is a good fit for superintendent because of the many roles she has played at Milford.
“I think Nancy will make a good superintendent because she has a lot of experience in the classroom,” Farrell said.
He feels she will put all her experiences together and be very successful at her new role.
Gary Knepp, board president, expressed similar sentiments, adding that House has performed beyond expectation in each role. He was especially impressed at how she transitioned to high school principal seamlessly, despite taking over the role when the current, and very beloved, high school principal died unexpectedly.
However, the board did not go into the hiring process with the mindset that House was the right fit. It was important to the board to go through a rigorous process, Knepp said.
The board decided to contract with the Ohio School Board Association for the hiring process. They could have done it themselves or used another company, but they’ve used the OSBA in the past, Knepp said in April.
Steve Horton, school board services consultant, met with teachers, staff, the administration and the community to hear their thoughts on what they want to see in the next superintendent.
The hiring process had five steps, which included meeting with the board, recruiting, screening candidates and interviews, Horton said in April.
More than 15 people applied. The board used the screening process to reduce the applicants to five, who were brought in for an interview. After the first interview, the board chose two candidates to take a achiever test, a type of psychological test, and to do a second round of interviews.
During the second interview, the candidates meet with the community. After that meeting, the board was able to hear the opinions of those who attended. Knepp felt House did very well in the interviews and while speaking to the community.
“She was very confident without being arrogant,” Knepp said, adding that she was also thoughtful and did research even though she already works for Milford.
“She demonstrated the kind of presence we think we want from a superintendent,” Knepp said.
As far as he can tell from research, House is the first female superintendent the district has had.
Details of House’s contract will be presented at the June 16 board meeting, Knepp said.
Also at the board meeting, the board approved the hire of Sarah Sloan as the principal of Mulberry Elementary. She was hired with a 223 day contract effective Aug. 1. Sloan will be paid $86,000.
Sloan taught grades three through five before becoming the principal at an elementary school in Hamilton. A year ago she took a job as the assistant principal at Milford Junior High.
“Sarah has a lot of elementary teaching experience,” Farrell said.
He feels that her experience makes her really qualified for the job.
“She’s so child-centered,” Farrell said, which is the first priority for anyone hired to an administrative position. That will also ensure Sloan succeeds at Mulberry.
Sloan, a resident of Milford, is passionate about helping children have a good experience at their first school.
“I just love those new experiences for them, those lightbulb moments,” Sloan said.
When students are in elementary school, everything is new and they make huge gains in academic achievement in a short amount of time.
“It’s pretty neat to watch that,” Sloan said.
Milford is a district that exceeds expectations, and Sloan wants to continue that path. She plans to work hard to connect more with the community and build community partnerships. She also wants to work with families and support them.