Arianna Peper
Junior Editor/Business Manager
“I’ve enjoyed doing it; I’ve always come to work feeling it was important. The work that all of us do in the Webster Groves School District, whatever role, is important,” superintendent John Simpson said.
On Friday, Aug. 2, Simpson announced via Student Square and Instagram that he would retire at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
Simpson first started working in the Webster Groves School District as the principal at Hudson Elementary School for four years. Following this he was the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for seven years and will now be going on his ninth year as superintendent.
Simpson said in his time at Webster, making a difference in the learning experience and environment has been one of the things he is most proud of.
Simpson said, “I would say there’s a lot of isolated things we’ve done that have been good like we’ve passed different propositions, facility upgrades. We’ve made schools more safe and secure, and we’ve redone boundary lines which was a big thing in transitioning Steger to Hixson.”
Principal of WGHS, Matt Irvin, has worked with Simpson for six years. Irvin said via email, “His stewardship of the pandemic, as well as the passage of several bond issues, have impacted many things such as Moss Field, Frick Theater and Knight Auditorium.”
In addition to this, Irivin said Simpson has also hired many staff members as part of the district.
Simpson said, “I think public education is the key to a better region, country, world. I think it’s a key to us continuing to be our best selves as people.”
Simpson said as students navigate schools with one another until they are 17 or 18 years old, they gain an appreciation for one another.
“We try and continue to promote them being able to listen with one another and engage in civil discourse with one another so I do feel like it’s the most important work for society overall to systematically improve society,” Simpson said.
Earlier in his career at Webster, Simpson said that despite some pressures to increase test scores from students or be better than another district, he noticed how much the community values the well-being of its students.
Simpson said, “I think one thing that I’ve felt has always been especially unique to us is how the district centers the well-being of its young people as well as its adults. That, yes, we’re an academic institution– grades, GPA, all those kinds of things— but I’ve felt like people really care about people and don’t just see students for the numbers of the scores they get but for just who they are. I’ve loved that about Webster and I’ve loved that about the school system.”
He said, “And, again, we want to do well. We want our kids to do well in any competition on any list. We want our children to be up there but not at the sacrifice of their well-being.”
The Board of Education (B.O. E.) recently began the search for Simpson’s replacement. It just issued an RFP (Request for Proposals) for companies to facilitate the search process.
Around five companies submitted, and the B.O.E. will rank and evaluate them and then interview some of those search firms. Once it has selected a search firm, it will work with that firm to finalize the timeline for the process.
The companies will recommend a certain number of people to be interviewed for the role; however, they will not have any say in the selection process. Simpson said the Board of Education is planning on having the process be extremely inclusive of the community with interviews being conducted by students, staff and community members.
Simpson said, “It’s been a great place to work. It’s been so fun just being around people of all ages. It’s not easy but it’s very fulfilling being around all the young people and seeing what they’re doing and how they are leading.”
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Arianna Peper–Junior Editor/Business ManagerThis will be Arianna Peper’s second year on ECHO staff. She made several contributions while taking journalism class her freshman year. |
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