Dr. Gregory Hutchings Selected As Next Shaker Heights Superintendent

The Shaker Heights Board of Education has selected Dr. Gregory Hutchings Jr. as the next superintendent of the Shaker Heights school district.

Hutchings currently serves as Director of Prekindergarten through 12th Grade Initiatives for the Alexandria City Public Schools in Virginia, which akin to being an assistant superintendent.

"Hutchings made instructional decisions for all middle school grade levels; guided his district’s middle schools and high school through candidacy for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program; oversaw the implementation of a new prekindergarten curriculum, a new middle school honors curriculum, a new talented and gifted program and revamped the adult education program," the school district said in a statement on its web site.

Board President Annette Tucker Sutherland said in the statement:

Dr. Hutchings is a dynamic education leader whose focus on instructional quality was described to us as ‘seeding success for every child’ and underscores his career to date.

In addition, Dr. Hutchings’ previous positions have provided increasing levels of management responsibilities related to all the other aspects of a superintendency. His colleagues praise him as ‘intellectual, accessible, and well-respected by teachers, administrators, parents and students.’ They say he ‘makes things happen.’

The Board is thrilled to have found someone who fits our community’s leadership profile: a collaborative leader with experience in a very diverse district that has high expectations, who has vision and management skills, and who will advance high standards for the entire student body.

Dr. Hutchings will place particular emphasis on increasing growth for the district’s lower-performing students while maintaining or raising the standards for our high-achieving students.

The Board intends to make their decision official during a business meeting April 9.

Hutchings has also held leadership roles in the public schools of Manassas, VA, and Nashville, TN, including positions as a middle school science teacher, high school assistant principal, and middle school principal.

In 2009, he was named Tennessee Middle School Principal of the Year for leading changes that resulted in significant gains in student achievement at West End Middle School in Nashville and making it the top middle school in Nashville.

Among his honors, he was also a fellow at the National Institute of Urban Leaders at Harvard University.

Hutchings and his wife Cheryl, a certified public accountant, have two children, ages 3 and 7, who will attend the Shaker schools.

“It is truly an honor and privilege to be selected as the next superintendent of schools for the Shaker Heights School District," Hutchings said. "I look forward to serving the Shaker Heights community and working collaboratively with the Board of Education and all stakeholders.”

Shaker Schools Superintendent Mark Freeman announced last year that he would step down at the end of this school year.

The district hired a firm to conduct the search last year, and released a profile of the ideal candidate earlier this year.

View video of Dr. Hutchings speaking at a community meeting in Shaker Heights on March 14.