The WW-P school district will be looking for a new assistant superintendent of planning and pupil services, as Thomas Smith, who currently holds the position, submitted his letter of resignation to the school board during its meeting on March 17.
Smith, who has held the position since 2005, has accepted a position as the superintendent in the Hopewell Valley school district, and his resignation will be effective June 1.
Smith was born and raised in Ewing. His mother was an administrator of the courts in Ewing and his father was an engineer. Smith earned his bachelors degree in film and television from the College of New Jersey, and then spent a couple of years in New York City. He then worked for the Special Olympics as a volunteer coach. “That really made me rethink what I was doing in life, and I went back to school to become a teacher,” Smith said.
He earned his master’s at TCNJ in teaching. During his graduate pursuits, he worked for a private school, the Newgrange School in Trenton, until he was certified, at which time he was hired at WW-P as a special education teacher.
He rose from teacher to head teacher, and then he became the assistant supervisor of special services for the district. In 2001, he left the district to become the director of special services and special projects in the Spotswood school district before coming back to WW-P as the assistant superintendent of planning and pupil services.
Smith says he is most proud of his work on developing the Academy, a program at High School North for students with special needs, the referendum for the construction at High School South, and his work on the district’s access control system — which should go out to bid shortly, and which Smith anticipates will be installed over the summer.
Most importantly, he said, he enjoyed “being able to interact with a community that really truly values education and is supportive of the school district. And I value the fantastic team of the administration, especially the superintendent.”
Right now, Smith says that as the process goes with any position, district officials will be looking to see if the positions need to be changed or shifted before making a determination on how the opening will be posted.
Smith lives in Upper Freehold with his wife, Louise, and his three children, ages 7, 5, and 2.
“I love the West Windsor-Plainsborodistrict,” Smith says. “It was just an amazing opportunity,” he says of his new position in Hopewell Valley. He explained that there were three superintendent positions opening up in Mercer County this year, and this district was right next door to the one in which he grew up.
“WW-P is an awesome district, and I feel very fortunate to have worked in it,” Smith added. “It’s bittersweet. However, this is just an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
There is also speculation that Steve Mayer, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, might also be leaving after this year to head to Robbinsville as its new superintendent.
