Dunklin R-5 School District assistant superintendent Joe Willis recently won the “Outstanding Assistant Superintendent of Schools” award. Willis is among the first group of assistant superintendents to win the newly created award given by the Missouri Association of School Administrators.
Beginning this year MASA will give an award to an outstanding assistant superintendent of schools or a person with a similar central office administrative position from each of the state’s eight MASA regions in recognition of outstanding educational leadership, according to the organization’s website.
Willis is the regional winner for the area that includes Jefferson, St. Louis and St. Charles counties. There is no statewide winner for the award.
The MASA Awards Committee is responsible for selecting the award winners from those nominated. While evaluating nominees, consideration is given to involvement in MASA’s regional and state meetings, committees, workshops and conferences, as well as to their length of service in their current role and their contributions to the school districts they serve.
Matt Lichtenstein, communications director for the Dunklin R-5 School District, said Dunklin district building principals, who work closely with Willis on developing curriculum and instructional strategies, nominated him for the award. Each of the principals wrote a letter of recommendation to MASA.
Katie Dunlap, the Pevely Elementary School principal, said she nominated Willis because of his dedication to leading curriculum and instruction, counseling, student achievement and more.
She also said Willis is known for his approachable leadership style and his commitment to finding resources, grants and programs to offer students extra support and opportunities they would not have otherwise.
Willis regularly visits classrooms across the district to understand how to better support teachers and students, Dunlap added.
“As an administrator, I always know that Dr. Willis is a phone call away. He will stop what he is doing to help support me in any way he can,” she said. “Dr. Willis is a tremendous asset to the district, offering his wisdom, knowledge and experience to the teachers, staff, administrators and students he serves. His presence is felt throughout the district, and he is greatly appreciated for his ongoing contributions to Dunklin R-5’s success and community impact.”
Willis said he was happy to hear that the building principals had nominated him for the award.
“It made me feel good because those are the people I work most directly with. I’m not an award person, but to know that the people I work with feel that way about me makes me feel a lot better,” he said.
Willis, who is serving his fifth year as assistant superintendent, said he was surprised to win the award, adding that he believes the award is a good reflection on the district and Jefferson County schools as a whole.
“For a long time, the Jefferson County area wasn’t as noticed. But the fact that people are noticing all the great things going on here in Jefferson County schools means a lot to me,” Willis said. “People are looking at Jefferson County as an example because there have been great things going on here. Jefferson County schools work well together as a team. We all share ideas with each other, and we help each other out all the time. We all compete against each other, but we’re all on the same team trying to do what’s best for kids.”
Dunklin’s accomplishments
Willis said he’s proud of the Dunklin district’s recent accomplishments, such as Pevely Elementary students growing their average reading level by 120 percent last school year; Taylor Early Childhood Center expanding and offering a free full-day program for preschoolers; the hiring of additional staff at Senn-Thomas Middle School; and the high school seeing about 70 percent of its most recent graduates leave the school with more than a high school diploma, such as earning free college credits, certifications or apprenticeship hours.
Willis said one of the most important aspects of his job is helping to empower his staff to do their best work.
“If there’s something in the way of what people want to do, it’s my job to try to find a way to take that barrier away, whether it’s financial, whether it’s a resource, whether it’s finding logistically how to do things. My job is to take all that away so that we can get kids what they need when they need it.”
Before becoming the Dunklin district’s assistant superintendent, Willis was the principal at Festus Middle School, and before that he was the principal at Antonia Middle School in the Fox C-6 School District.
Amy Ruzicka, the superintendent of the Bayless School District and MASA awards group chairperson, said Willis was chosen for a variety of reasons: his proven dedication to curriculum instruction, professional development and student achievement with a focus on direct engagement and understanding of the classroom needs; his collaborative leadership style and effective use of data for decision making and his impactful presence throughout his district; and his contributions to local and state committees beyond the Dunklin district.
“He’s really working to improve student learning and outcomes not only at Dunklin R-5, but in the region and at the state as well,” Ruzicka said.
Clint Freeman, superintendent of the Dunklin R-5 District, said he’s proud of Willis.
“We’re very honored that Joe was the first recipient of (the award) in our region. Joe mainly focuses on curriculum, instruction and assessment, which is what we’re here to do, just teaching children. We’re very proud and excited for him and look forward to celebrating in March at the annual conference.”
The award will be presented to Willis at a dinner on March 26 during the MASA Spring Conference in Lake Ozark.