School District Superintendent Announces Retirement

UNION CITY, CA – New Haven Schools Superintendent Dr. Arlando Smith will retire at the end of this school year. He informed the school board of his decision during a closed session earlier this month. The board decided Tuesday night, Jan. 29, to hire McPherson & Jacobson L.L.C., an executive recruitment and development firm, to conduct a search for candidates. The Board plans to have a new Superintendent identified by May.

Dr. Smith has served as New Haven’s Superintendent since July of 2017. In an email sent to all district staff on Jan. 22 announcing his decision, Dr. Smith shared highlights of his career in education and his appreciation of the good work that district staff engages in each day.

Here is a copy of the letter sent district wide:

Dear New Haven Colleagues,

Last Tuesday evening I informed the Board of Education that I will retire at the end of this current school year. These past 7 years in New Haven have been the highlight of my career, a career that began in 1976 as a high school teacher. My career has included being an Activities Director, Leadership Adviser, and athletics coach of several sports. I was an assistant principal in a large urban district, and an assistant principal in a small rural district. I was a high school principal and a middle school principal. When I left the principalship I went to the New Teacher Center to help create an administrator coaching and support process modeled after the highly successful New Teacher Project. I then worked for The Stupski Foundation, a foundation committed to social justice, improving educational outcomes for all students, with specific focus on Black, Latino and poor students, and making systems in large urban districts more efficient. After leaving Stupski I went into higher education, first as an adjunct, then as Director of the Educational Leadership Program at John F. Kennedy University, then to San Jose State University as Director of the Urban High School Leadership Program.

Those experiences have led me to New Haven where I am ending my career. As I have previously shared, the joy I have experienced here is the way everyone should be able to end their career, with a deep sense of satisfaction.

It has been my pleasure to serve as your superintendent. Whatever successes we have enjoyed are due to the collective efforts of all of you. I know this will continue to be one of the top districts, not only in California but in the entire country.

Best wishes,

Arlando

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