The Nashville public school system tapped a top Prince George’s County school official as its new leader.
The board interviewed six candidates during the past few weeks. The interview sessions were live-streamed for public viewing.
“Over the last two weeks, the Board has had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing a high-quality group of candidates,” Sharon Gentry, the board’s chair, said in statement. “Each candidate was impressive for different reasons, leaving the Board with an extremely difficult decision to make.”
Joseph has been a deputy superintendent for two years in the 129,000-student Prince George’s district. He served from 2012 to 2014 as superintendent of the far-smaller Seaford, Del., school system and had a long career as a teacher, principal and administrator for Montgomery County Public Schools.
Kevin Maxwell, chief executive of the Prince George’s school system, recently described Joseph as instrumental to district efforts to raise expectations and improve achievement.
“Over the past two years, we have seen improvement in graduation rates, kindergarten readiness, and literacy performance,” he said in a statement. “Dr. Joseph is a proven leader, and we support his decision to explore new opportunities to serve children. Any district would be lucky to have him leading their schools.”
Joseph said in a statement Friday that Maxwell encouraged him to apply for the job in Nashville and that he is looking forward to “this exciting endeavor.”
“Over the course of the selection process, it became apparent to me that Nashville is united in its desire to be the fastest improving school district in America in the short-term, and one of the best school systems in the nation in the long-term,” Joseph said.
Maxwell and Joseph will work together to ensure there is a smooth transition after Joseph departs, according to a statement from the school system.
Joseph’s career started in Montgomery shortly after he earned a degree from Lincoln University in 1996, according to a résumé posted online for the Nashville job.
He was director of school performance from 2009 to 2012 and, before that, a principal at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown.
Earlier, he was an assistant principal at Redland Middle School in Derwood and worked as an English teacher, reading specialist and team leader at Clemente. He wrote a book guiding principals in their first 100 days of the school year, which Prince George’s officials said is widely used across the country.
The Nashville search process marks that school system’s second round in its search for a new chief. Last year, the candidate selected by the board pulled out unexpectedly just before he signed a contract, officials said.
Donna St. George contributed to this report.
