The Mississippi Department of Education recently launched the inaugural class of the Superintendents’ Academy, an intensive training program designed to support superintendents as they strive for continuing progress in school districts throughout the state.
Pearl River Central School District Superintendent Alan Lumpkin was one of the 19 superintendents in the state to be selected for the invitation-only program.
“I was very fortunate to be accepted,” said Lumpkin, “The training I have already received has been outstanding.”
Lumpkin and the other superintendents in the academy’s inaugural class took a field trip to New York City earlier this year. During the trip, the superintendents visited a K-8 grade school in Harlem renowned for being one of the best in New York. They also went to a high school that has a program with an emphasis on culinary arts located in Manhattan.
Career and Technical Education Director Kelli Beech said in a previous story that Pearl River Central High School will be converting their current food services program to a culinary arts program as of next school year. With this impending change on the horizon, Lumpkin said his visit to the culinary arts high school in New York was particularly valuable.
The trip allowed the administrators to see the context of New York schools as opposed to those in Mississippi, said Lumpkin.
In addition to observing the practices of successful school districts, the superintendents spent two days in class at Columbia University in New York. They were instructed by Dr. Fran Murphy, a former superintendent in the state of New York.
“I really want to thank our state legislators, who saw a need to improve leadership in school districts and funded this academy,” said Lumpkin.
According to a statement released by the Mississippi Department of Education, the Mississippi State Legislature raised more than $500,000 to make the Superintendents’ Academy a reality.
The trip to New York was one of seven sessions that takes place in the program. The other six take place in Natchez, where Lumpkin said the third session begins today.