St. Johns High School alumnus
Members of the Ellsworth Community Schools Board of Education recently approved hiring Aaron Gaffney as superintendent for the district that’s located in northern Michigan. Gaffney, a St. Johns High School alumnus, assumes his new duties in July, taking over for Superintendent Lynn Spearing who announced her retirement earlier this year.
“We will miss Mrs. Spearing; she has done great things in our district, and during these challenging times has helped our school thrive while others have struggled,” says Board of Education President Kandi Randall. “In hiring Mr. Gaffney, we believe in investing in our own. He has a clear vision of the goals and objectives of our school district.”
Superintendent Spearing is equally pleased with the selection of Gaffney.
“I am so fortunate to be able to retire knowing that my successor shares my passion and vision for Ellsworth Community Schools. I have had the pleasure of working with Aaron for three years; I know without a doubt that he is the right individual to lead our school forward.”
Gaffney, who has 18 years teaching experience in addition to serving as curriculum director at Central Lakes Public Schools, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Michigan Technological University and MA degree in teaching/education from Marygrove College. He is in the process of completing certification for an Education Administrative degree from Eastern Michigan University.
“I am very excited about this new opportunity and enthusiastic to be a part of the district’s future,” Gaffney says. “We have so many outstanding things going on – a fantastic staff, small class sizes, excellent test scores, and an extremely supportive and team-oriented school board and financially our district is in very good shape.”
Academic achievement is the norm in Ellsworth, Gaffney says.
“Academically, Ellsworth has some amazing things going on. For a school our size we maintain a wide range of academic offerings, and our award-winning Lancer Leap program enables us to offer a variety of enrichment classes like Forest Ecology, Forensic Science, and Boat Building.”
Expanded curriculum opportunities are part of future plans at Ellsworth.
“Two of the areas we’re most excited about are technology and agriculture,” Gaffney says.”We are moving towards a one-to-one Pad initiative for high school students in the fall of 2013, and we already have classroom sets of iPads and netbooks available for elementary and middle school students.
“We will continue to expand our career and technical education agriculture department. A large, hoop house – which is a type of greenhouse – will be constructed on the school grounds this spring. Next year, students will be able to grow plants almost year-round for both scientific study and to supplement our farm-to-school cafeteria program. That program is also a model in the state.”
Gaffney and his wife, Karrie, live in northern Michigan with their children, Ella, Jack and Joe. He is the son of David Gaffney of Maple Rapids and Rhonda Dedyne of St. Johns.