Charley Connor and Lindsey Oppegard
Dr. Tracy Smith will become Novato Unified School District’s (NUSD) superintendent on Jul. 1, after 26 years as an educator in Marin. Although she recognizes the issues within NUSD, her goal is to address what the community demands.
“I want to find out what the community is looking for and what they want to see improved and I want to make all those things happen,” Smith said.
Smith aspires to encourage student voice and be the superintendent her community wants her to be. To address NUSD’s teacher shortage, Smith aims to build a strong community within NUSD and its schools.
“I want kids to feel happy. I want kids to feel safe. I want kids to feel inspired and sometimes that means adults need to feel inspired and happy,” Smith said. “If we create a climate where teachers feel like they’re part of a team and they enjoy coming to work, then that’s going to make a big difference with retaining teachers.”
“I want kids to feel happy. I want kids to feel safe.”
– Jennifer Larson
Principal
Smith looks forward to continuing the equity initiatives that La-Torre Derby started by taking into account results from YouthTruth surveys and creating student advisory groups.
“There has to be continued conversations with students at all levels in terms of bias, the language we use, and how we treat each other,” Smith said. “I think it’s so important that people’s stories get told and that we listen.”
