(Photo by Bruce Rolfe)
Dr. Lindsey Newton extremely thankful to fulfill one of her leadership goals
of being superintendent at her high school alma mater
of being superintendent at her high school alma mater
By Bruce Rolfe
When Dr. Lindsey Newton was hired to be Galesburg-Augusta High School principal in 2022, the new role not only allowed her to climb the leadership ladder to an administration position she was striving for, but secure a principal position in the district she graduated from.
A 2000 G-A graduate, Newton is enjoying a full circle moment again at a higher level after the G-A Board of Education unanimously approved to hire her as the district’s superintendent June 5.
The vacancy was created when Wendy Somers announced earlier she was retiring.
Growing up in the local school district has offered Newton an opportunity to make many positive friendships. She’s a G-A girl at heart so it’s not surprising she was very upbeat when she was hired as the new G-A superintendent
“I certainly thought that (the G-A superintendent position) would be an aspiration of mine. I feel like I’m going to continue my path to wherever I’m called to and that just happened to be the timing here at G-A. The fact that it’s where I spent my early and developmental years is pretty special. It was definitely a goal of mine to be a superintendent and to have it be at G-A is very special,” said Newton.
Many high school graduates make an impact away from the area they grew up in and away from the school district they graduated from, however Newton is embracing an opportunity to make an impact in the school district she grew up in and graduated from.
“It’s very, very special. I was away for 20 years. The first 20 years of my life I was here and then the next 20 years of my life I was out trying to learn different perspectives and different ways. I gained a lot of experience and now I get to be a more well rounded individual here for our district,” said the new G-A superintendent.
Newton said one goal she has for her first year as G-A’s new leader is to build trust, collaboration and partnership with everybody in the G-A community, “to help make decisions around and for our kids.”
Newton is entering her new job with two immediate and large decisions. The first is selecting a new high school principal to fill the role she held for two years. She said the position has been posted and the district is reviewing applications. She said it will be important the district selects the person that will be the right fit to lead the high school.
“We have high expectations for the role and any of our roles. We’ll get our interview teams together and make collaborative decisions on who the next person should be,” said Newton.
With the G-A teachers’ contract expiring at the end of June, one concern that came up during the interview process was Newton’s lack of experience at the negotiating table. However she said she has been able to sit at the negotiation table the last few months for this year’s first round of negotiations with G-A’s teachers and feels prepared to enter that environment.
“It comes down to negotiations are about collaboration and decision making. I think I have vast experience in both of those things. So to be able to partner with our teachers to negotiate seems like something that I’m up to the task,” said Newton, who said there are new laws that need to be considered and she will continue to have collaborative discussions with the district’s attorney and teachers.
Every school district has challenges, and Newton said G-A is no different. She feels at the top of the list is enrollment.
“We really need to sell our story of how great we are here at G-A. That’s going to take our whole community to invest in that. I think getting our enrollment up and then just focus on our budget to see where we can make some enhancements,” explained the new G-A superintendent.
The G-A graduate feels G-A has a lot of positives going for it as the district tries to attract new families.
“G-A is a great place to have a family. There is a ton of family feel and community feel here. We call ourselves the Ram family and that’s true. We just want to invite and invest in more people to be part of that Ram family,” adds Newton.
Newton served as principal at Northwood Elementary and Barclay Hills Education Center in Parchment from 2018-2022. She also spent 10 years at the National Heritage Academies from 2008-2018 where she served in multiple roles including principal, dean of students, assistant principal, middle school dean/assistant principal and 5th grade teacher.
Lindsey and her husband Jason have two boys, Dekker (8) and Kuiper (7).
When Dr. Lindsey Newton was hired to be Galesburg-Augusta High School principal in 2022, the new role not only allowed her to climb the leadership ladder to an administration position she was striving for, but secure a principal position in the district she graduated from.
A 2000 G-A graduate, Newton is enjoying a full circle moment again at a higher level after the G-A Board of Education unanimously approved to hire her as the district’s superintendent June 5.
The vacancy was created when Wendy Somers announced earlier she was retiring.
Growing up in the local school district has offered Newton an opportunity to make many positive friendships. She’s a G-A girl at heart so it’s not surprising she was very upbeat when she was hired as the new G-A superintendent
“I certainly thought that (the G-A superintendent position) would be an aspiration of mine. I feel like I’m going to continue my path to wherever I’m called to and that just happened to be the timing here at G-A. The fact that it’s where I spent my early and developmental years is pretty special. It was definitely a goal of mine to be a superintendent and to have it be at G-A is very special,” said Newton.
Many high school graduates make an impact away from the area they grew up in and away from the school district they graduated from, however Newton is embracing an opportunity to make an impact in the school district she grew up in and graduated from.
“It’s very, very special. I was away for 20 years. The first 20 years of my life I was here and then the next 20 years of my life I was out trying to learn different perspectives and different ways. I gained a lot of experience and now I get to be a more well rounded individual here for our district,” said the new G-A superintendent.
Newton said one goal she has for her first year as G-A’s new leader is to build trust, collaboration and partnership with everybody in the G-A community, “to help make decisions around and for our kids.”
Newton is entering her new job with two immediate and large decisions. The first is selecting a new high school principal to fill the role she held for two years. She said the position has been posted and the district is reviewing applications. She said it will be important the district selects the person that will be the right fit to lead the high school.
“We have high expectations for the role and any of our roles. We’ll get our interview teams together and make collaborative decisions on who the next person should be,” said Newton.
With the G-A teachers’ contract expiring at the end of June, one concern that came up during the interview process was Newton’s lack of experience at the negotiating table. However she said she has been able to sit at the negotiation table the last few months for this year’s first round of negotiations with G-A’s teachers and feels prepared to enter that environment.
“It comes down to negotiations are about collaboration and decision making. I think I have vast experience in both of those things. So to be able to partner with our teachers to negotiate seems like something that I’m up to the task,” said Newton, who said there are new laws that need to be considered and she will continue to have collaborative discussions with the district’s attorney and teachers.
Every school district has challenges, and Newton said G-A is no different. She feels at the top of the list is enrollment.
“We really need to sell our story of how great we are here at G-A. That’s going to take our whole community to invest in that. I think getting our enrollment up and then just focus on our budget to see where we can make some enhancements,” explained the new G-A superintendent.
The G-A graduate feels G-A has a lot of positives going for it as the district tries to attract new families.
“G-A is a great place to have a family. There is a ton of family feel and community feel here. We call ourselves the Ram family and that’s true. We just want to invite and invest in more people to be part of that Ram family,” adds Newton.
Newton served as principal at Northwood Elementary and Barclay Hills Education Center in Parchment from 2018-2022. She also spent 10 years at the National Heritage Academies from 2008-2018 where she served in multiple roles including principal, dean of students, assistant principal, middle school dean/assistant principal and 5th grade teacher.
Lindsey and her husband Jason have two boys, Dekker (8) and Kuiper (7).
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