New School Superintendent From Houston
Newly appointed Superintendent of Moore County schools Aaron Spence meets Robin Calcutt, principal of New Century Middle School, after the Board of Education meeting. Calcutt was one of several principals and teachers waiting in line to meet Spence, who comes to Moore County from the Houston Independent School District in February. Photo by Hannah Sharpe
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Aaron Spence will take over as the new superintendent of Moore County schools in February.
During a special meeting late Tuesday afternoon, the Moore County Board of Education voted unanimously to hire Spence to replace current Superintendent Susan Purser, who is retiring at the end of the month.
Spence will take over the position Feb. 6. Mike Griffin, the school system’s chief finance officer, will serve as interim superintendent in January.
After conducting a nationwide search through the N.C. School Boards Association, the board reviewed applications and supporting documentation for more than 25 candidates and considered information collected in community and staff surveys before narrowing its choices.
Board chairwoman Kathy Farren said that early on in the board’s search, Spence stood out among a large applicant pool of qualified candidates.
“When the board started this process, we had no idea what our pool of applicants would be like,” she said. “However, we were extremely pleased with the caliber of candidates who responded and with whom we met. Among these, Dr. Spence stood out from the very beginning, and throughout the process, we continued to be impressed with his experience, vision and enthusiasm.”
Farren added that she and her fellow board members are confident that Spence will be able to lead the Moore County school system to the next level of achievement, given his previous successes in other school systems.
This will be Spence’s first job as superintendent.
"This is an honor for me to be here," Spence said after the board voted. "I am absolutely thrilled to be joining this district."
Since 2010, he has served as the chief high school officer for the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in Houston. In that position, which is equivalent to that of an assistant superintendent in North Carolina — Spence oversees the operation of 35 high schools with more than 200,000 students.
During his time in Houston, Spence has been credited with helping the HISD decrease its dropout rate, while also raising graduation rates to a historic high. The district has also seen an increase in science and math scores along with more students taking advanced courses under his supervision.
Before taking his current position in Houston, Spence served as the chief academic officer and director of curriculum and instruction for Chesterfield County Public Schools in Virginia.
Spence also served as a principal and assistant principal in Henrico County, Va. He was chosen to open Deep Run High School in 2002 after a nationwide search. He served as principal for seven years. During that time, the school received the distinction as one of “America’s Best High Schools” from U.S. News and World Report. It also received honors as one of the top-performing high schools in Virginia under his leadership.
Spence is a recipient of the R.E.B. award for distinguished educational leadership, an award presented by the R.E.B. Foundation in Richmond, Va., that recognizes principals who create exceptional education environments at their schools.
In 2010, he was recognized as an “Emerging Leader” by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and was one of only 30 educators chosen to participate in its national leadership program. The association recognizes and prepares young educators to help influence education programs, practice and policy on the national and local level.
Spence began his career in education teaching high school French and photojournalism in Stafford County, Va. He has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia, where he also received a bachelor’s degree in French studies, a master’s degree in secondary education and a doctorate in educational administration and supervision.
He and his wife, Krista, have five children — Isabella, Mattingly, Christopher, Kristianna and Ian. The Spences expect a baby boy in January.
Contact Hannah Sharpe by hannah@thepilot.com.
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Comments
DaveyNC 1 year, 4 months ago
Welcome, Mr. Spence and family! In a minute, some of our regulars on this website will pop in and take you to task for something. Anything.
clodfelter37 1 year, 4 months ago
Welcome Dr Spence. We have been very happy with Dr Purser and hope you can continue her rapport with our teachers and hope you have a thick skin because you will need it with some of the parents. You will find that Moore County is really the Garden of Eden.
MikeNC 1 year, 4 months ago
DaveyNC 2 hours, 18 minutes ago ...Welcome, Mr. Spence and family! In a minute, some of our regulars on this website will pop in and take you to task for something. Anything.
OMG Davey....Too Funny, too sad and too true. Welcome to the Sandhills Dr. Spence and family....Mike
emb6683 1 year, 4 months ago
It looks like a highly qualified candidate was selected, well done.
It's too bad there was no local candidate that was qualified.
And hopefully this posting won't be just another way station in Dr Spence's career. Less than two years in his current job in Houston, and in the eight years before that, two positions in Chesterfield County VA and two positions in Henrico County VA.
weteachers2 1 year, 4 months ago
emb6683: That's how it is with superintendents now. They move around. Districts are not hiring from within. The reason is to avoid bias.
Toda 1 year, 4 months ago
"some of our regulars on this website will pop in and take you to task for something. Anything." There you go Davey the Dog...
AmericanModerator 1 year, 4 months ago
It's nice to see relatively young person that'll have his children in the school system. He'll bring a different perspective. Thanks to Dr Purser for a job well done. Welcome Dr Spence and best wishes.
mcg2010 1 year, 4 months ago
As product of the MCS I'm excited to see someone hired who will have kids that will be integrated in to the system that he is serving. It's also promising someone who has experience with high schools. While the growth of our elementary and middle schools is encouraging, at some point those kids grow up and need a high school environment that will meet their needs. I feel confident that Dr. Spence will be able to provide that. Welcome to the land of the pines Dr. Spence, best of luck. We can be a tough crowd, but I like to think we're worth it!
emb6683 1 year, 4 months ago
AmericanModerator 3 hours, 32 minutes ago It's nice to see relatively young person that'll have his children in the school system
Is that in his contract? Maybe it should be.
Guarantee you that the President's children don't go to the DC public schools.
HISDteacher 1 year, 4 months ago
Hope he does more for you than he did here in Houston!?!?!? If he learned anything while in Houston, I hope it is that he needs to work with the teachers and staff and not throw them under the bus like his former boss and "stupidintendent" Grier! And further information on the mess brought to HISD by Grier and his many, many hires can be found on houstonisdwatch.com where you can find firsthand! Congratulations and good luck and our thoughts and prayers are with you and your schools!?!
GoldenDreams 1 year, 4 months ago
I read the comments on houstonisdwatch.com and found them interesting. It appears Aaron Spence is not the model for communication as a superintendent should be. It's important to be open-minded with any new employee, but it's also important to read background about him as well. If he wants to be a success at this job, he will need to communicate with teachers and staff and work as part of a team.
native 1 year, 4 months ago
In Moore County, we have some trained local professionals. Why can we not give them a chance?...I guess it is true that you are not appreciated in your own home area.. so sad
Toda 1 year, 4 months ago
GoldenDreams 12 hours, 52 minutes ago,
Native => remember when Dr. Larry Upchurch was passed over for Susan Purser? Now we are on round two when Dr. Upchurch may not have retired. GoldenDreams provided valuable insight into the background of our new Superintendent. Surprise!!
marypoppins 1 year, 4 months ago
"During his time in Houston, Spence has been credited with helping the HISD decrease its dropout rate, while also raising graduation rates to a historic high. The district has also seen an increase in science and math scores along with more students taking advanced courses under his supervision." He may be "credited" with these things, but he has only been in the HISD since 2010; therefore, there is only one year's data during his tenure. One year does not a trend make. Also, if he was hired as a principal in 2002 and served 7 years, he has only been at the district level for 2.5 years, yet he has had 2 jobs in those 2.5 years. I wish him well and hope for the sake of our children he does a wonderful job, but I am not "impressed with his experience". As far as I can tell, he has very little.
DaveyNC 1 year, 4 months ago
As predicted, already the peanut gallery is taking Mr. Spence to task. Just amazing.
HISDTOO 1 year, 4 months ago
MikeNC 1 year, 4 months ago
im_a_mopedboy 3 hours, 48 minutes ago ...Too funny - as you two are the biggest crybabies here
Yea right. Davey nailed in the very first response to this article what would happen. His comments probably gave a few others pause in making a rush to judgement and that is a good thing. The Pilot has reported numerous people coming and going from our community, new business's opening or closing and those with nothing better to do predictably bombard them with negative comments. Davey's comment was spot on when reflecting on similar past articles and resulting comments. These open Pilot blogs could have been a very positive way to express one's opinion, but has become little more than a negative reflection on Moore County and 'The Pilot' itself. I have never read one positive comment from you; just a bunch of pot stirring....Mike
HISDteacher 1 year, 4 months ago
Back at you HISDTOO...and what school or administrative position at the Palace on West 18th do you currently occupy space? I said NOTHING bad about "your boy" except that I hope he gives more to his in his new position than he did in TEAM-HISD and that he learned HOW NOT TO treat those he professes to work alongside! So climb down off your almighty high horse and let those who will be dealing with Aaron decide for themselves, I just pointed out a source for them to get some information! Wish all you higher up, underqualified, and overpaid educrats running Houston ISD would have NOT kept all the information secret and sealed away from Houston people and parents when hiring Grier because you know that IF everyone would have been able to know about Grier BEFORE he signed his OVERLY OUTRAGEOUS contract we would have said NO WAY!!! If we could have received information about him and his destructive past heck no would we have wanted him, so it is only fair to caution others on what was thrown at us without any input! And again, since Grier's arrival all that TEAM-HISD has been doing is rearranging the deck chairs on the HISD-Titanic and there seems to be a few smart rats abandoning the sinking ship!?!?!? Where's your chair....1st class I bet!?!?!?
DonaldLeo43 1 year, 4 months ago
Good grief Houston teacher. Your bitterness makes it hard to gauge the validity of your comments. I appreciate unemotional comments, not comments like yours that ooze anger and resentment. You may have some truth on your side, but who would know given the ire with which you express yourself.
wrich49 1 year, 4 months ago
Houston...do we have your problem?
ProudPatriot 1 year, 4 months ago
Is it me or does anyone else find it interesting that Dr. Spence was in Henrico County Schools in VA where Pat Russo was? Also, wasn't Terry Grier one of the three finalists for Moore County Superintendent the same year we hired Russo?
wrich49 1 year, 4 months ago
Parents and interested citizens should also ask about Spence's connection to the Schlecty training which MC has spent almost $600,000 on and which most teachers I've talked to think is just a crock. Apparently, Spence is a buddy of Dr. Purser, who introduced this program and for whom she now going to work. 600.000 dollars could go a long way to pay teachers and assistants and keep teachers in the classroom teaching instead of going to useless training sessions for things they already know. If you don't believe this, check it out.