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There’s a new face sitting at the Assistant Superintendent of the Vail Unified School District’s desk as the former Associate Superintendent, John Carruth, moved into politics. Although Carruth had planned to retire in Vail, his plans changed when he received a phone call from Kathy Hoffman, Superintendent of Public Instruction elects. He accepted her offer to serve as her chief of staff leaving a void in the district’s headquarters. To fill that void, the district welcomes Kevin Carney, the former Executive Director for Vail’s Beyond Textbooks program into the role. “Vail is so fortunate to have incredible leaders. Kevin Carney is right at the top of that list. While leaving Vail is really hard for me to do, I’m comforted knowing that Kevin is stepping in to take my place,” said Carruth.
Carney is well known in the community for spearheading the efforts in Vail to improve student achievement through the implementation of Vail’s proven teaching and learning frameworks. This program required Carney to work in conjunction with over 300 schools across Arizona and other states. Now, he’s looking forward to serving the Vail community in a more direct way. “So much of my time and effort of the past ten years was geared toward helping other educators and students outside of Vail. And while I have enjoyed that and was honored to do so, there is no place like home,” Carney said.
As part of his responsibilities as assistant superintendent, Carney will still continue to serve as the Executive Director for Beyond Textbooks but with less day-to-day involvement. His focus will now shift toward helping Vail’s students and families with the coming growth in the community, which will bring new opportunities and challenges, ones Superintendent Calvin Baker is confident he can tackle. “Kevin Carney has a well-established reputation in Vail as a caring and highly competent teacher and principal. As the leader of Beyond Textbooks, he has been helping leaders improve schools across the entire state. He will now focus on supporting our highly effective school leaders in Vail,” Baker said.
Some of the expected challenges Carney will help tackle in his new position are the acquisition of land and funding to build functional and beautiful schools. Recruiting quality new staff amidst a considerable teacher shortage is another notable challenge. And of course, Carney will need to tackle these while simultaneously keeping up with technology advances and new ways of learning for the district’s students.
Although daunting, Carney is encouraged and optimistic about Vail School District’s future. “I have observed and provided training and consultation in hundreds of schools, interacting with thousands of educators across Arizona during the past ten years. I have seen many amazing schools, teachers, leaders, and communities. No where in my travels have I encountered a district like Vail. The support of the community, the families that live here, the students who attend our schools, the staff of the school district – all aspects contribute to the best school district and community that I have come across in my travels. And, while we are continually striving to improve as a district, I am hopeful all stakeholders will continue to see the value in what we are collectively doing and continue to share a common purpose of having outstanding schools for the families in our community,” Carney commented.