New Superintendent Appointed in Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH, VA -- The Falls Church School Board unanimously approved Peter Noonan as the ninth superintendent of the public school system Tuesday night.

Noonan, the current superintendent of Fairfax City Public Schools since 2012, will assume his new post May 15.

After a nationwide search process, the board's selection comes a local school district of similar size. Like Falls Church City, Fairfax City are independent cities formerly in Fairfax County. While Fairfax County has over 186,000 students, Falls Church enrolls 2,700 and Fairfax City 4,800.

Noonan told Patch that he brings to Falls Church the experience of responding quickly when issues arise in a small school district. "One of the things that I bring is the understanding of the personal experience that comes with public education in a small community," he said.

Noonan began his education career as a special education teacher in Albuquerque, N.M., where he was named Teacher of the Year in 1993. Before working in Fairfax City, he served in various roles at Fairfax County Public Schools for 11 years, including assistant principal and assistant superintendent positions.

"After a process that had many highly qualified candidate from all over the country apply, I am excited to welcome Dr. Noonan to Falls Church City Public Schools," said School Board Chair Lawrence Webb. "His years of experience will be a great addition to our system."

Noonan plans to tackle issues like adequate facilities for the growing student population. He recognizes that while Falls Church performs well academically, there is room for improvement.

"I think that some of the ways we can improve on our greatness is taking our curriculum and our instructional programs to deeper and more meaningful levels," he said.

During the search process, the school district received 38 applications -- nine of these from Virginia. The school district accepted applications until Feb. 24 and invited top candidates for interviews. Finalists met with a 13-member stakeholder panel, which provided feedback to the school board.

Robert Schiller has served as interim superintendent since December after five-year Superintendent Toni Jones resigned.

Image via Falls Church City Public Schools