Love of Learning Spurs CPSD's Rittel to Take Superintendent Job In Utah

It’s the home stretch for Keith Rittel.

This summer, Rittel, who is in his fourth year as deputy superintendent of the Clover Park School District, will pack up and head to Utah, where he has accepted a job as superintendent of the Provo School District.

Rittel came to CPSD after having been a finalist for a superintendent position in another school district. He decided to focus on training and obtaining his superintendent credential – and then pursue jobs in that field. To help with the process, he made contact with a search consultant.

And then Utah came calling.

In Provo, Rittel will preside over 19 schools with an enrollment of about 13,500 students – slightly larger than CPSD, which averages about 12,000 a year.

“It looks like a wonderful opportunity,” he said.

Rittel said he was attracted to the Provo School Board’s passion for education.

“Like the board here, the one there is comprised of very, very nice people who have their hearts in the area of education,” he said.

Just like Rittel, a former teacher and high-school principal.

“I like watching kids learn,” he said, “and I really like seeing the evidence – grades and student achievement. That’s really exciting.”

Utah also has personal appeal for Rittel: His daughter and her family are there.

“I have grandchildren who I only get to see once or twice a year right now,” he said. “That was an additional draw, so I thought, why not try for it?”

Still, Rittel said he will miss CPSD, especially the people he has worked with while leading the district’s improvement efforts.

“That goes for the students all the way up to the parents and teachers, and the community,” he said. “You work this hard for a period of time and it gets hard to leave.”

His work has clearly been appreciated.

“Under his leadership, the district's initiatives have become more closely 'coordinated, articulated and aligned,' to borrow a phrase Keith often uses,” said CPSD Superintendent Debbie LeBeau. “We will certainly miss his presence; however, we do have some great outcomes left as a result of his leadership."

As deputy superintendent, Rittel has written two Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) grants worth $2 million and $1.4 million – and another is being considered right now.

“These have been some pretty significant contributions,” he said.

Rittel said that he has seen major changes during his time in CPSD, most notably the “positive direction” in which student data is moving and what he sees as a stronger level of satisfaction from the community with how the district is running.

Making the transition from being a principal to a high-level administrator hasn’t always been easy, though. Rittel was previously the principal at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, and also worked at Anacortes High School.

“I hadn’t worked at the district level before, so coming from being a building principal has been challenging,” he said. “I think it was also the fact that we have had a challenge trying to find the right systems to put into place in Clover Park schools – but I think we’re definitely on that road, and things are getting better and stronger.”

Rittel grew up in the Seattle area and British Columbia and earned a bachelor of music from the University of Rochester in New York and a master’s in education from the University of Utah. He obtained his superintendent credential from Western Washington University.

While he doesn’t have much time to practice the bass trombone these days, Rittel plays in the orchestra for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” every holiday season. The ballet has a 45-show run – “no person can remain sane and do that many shows” – and he is one of the substitute trombone players.

His initial desire to teach music was borne of working at a music camp in British Columbia.

“I thought, I kind of enjoy this,” he said. “So I did it a little bit more and then decided maybe this should be a career move.”