Jamie Wilson, the current superintendent, . The school board named Susannah O鈥橞ara the acting superintendent at Wilson鈥檚 retirement announcement.
Wilson will serve as the emeritus superintendent through Jan. 31, 2025.
O鈥橞ara is a lifelong Denton resident. She comes to the position with more than 20 years of experience in public education. She went to Borman Elementary School and what was then Calhoun Junior High School (now Calhoun Middle School). She graduated as a Denton High Bronco when the campus was located on Fulton Street.
She built her career in Denton ISD.
As the assistant superintendent of academic programs for three years, she oversaw the academic programs and operations at all 43 of the district鈥檚 campuses. She also collaborated with district and campus leaders to refocus and energize efforts ensuring all Denton ISD graduates are prepared for college and careers. She also developed Denton ISD鈥檚 leadership profile, which serves to identify and build on various traits the district seeks in members of its leadership team.
More recently, O鈥橞ara helped design and establish a vision for new elementary schools built in the district and for its fifth high school, which will be built in Cross Roads as a result of the 2023 bond referendum.
O鈥橞ara is a sought-after assessment consultant in the region, and she has worked in a number of states to develop and implement assessment practices that aim to build hope and achievement on campuses. School board President Barbara Burns said some might worry that O鈥橞ara has spent her career in Denton ISD, but Burns said she has watched O鈥橞ara lead educators all over the state and across the country in key areas of public school administration.
鈥淪usannah鈥檚 heart is here,鈥� Burns said. 鈥淚t has always been here, and even though all of her experience has been in Denton, she has been a consultant all over the country. She brings ideas. When she has been in an administrative role, she has brought in those ideas and made huge improvements, because her biggest concern has been student outcomes.鈥�
Before her tenure as assistant superintendent of academic programs, O鈥橞ara served as area superintendent of the Guyer High School zone for four years. She expanded her skill set there, too, supervising the zone鈥檚 health services and fine arts departments. Before that, O鈥橞ara served as the principal of Hawk Elementary School from 2006 to 2015. She was a finalist for the Texas National Distinguished Principal Award in 2013.
School board member Charles Stafford said some leaders might have expected O鈥橞ara to coast a little as the principal at Hawk, which was a campus of students from higher-income students and parents who were invested.
鈥淏ut even then, she was at Hawk, grinding it out, because she knew things could be even better,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 who she is.鈥�
O鈥橞ara received her bachelor鈥檚 degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of North Texas and her master鈥檚 degree in educational leadership from Texas Woman鈥檚 University. She completed her doctoral studies at UNT in 2023.
O鈥橞ara said her years with the district have given her an edge to take the reins in a system with bounding growth and historic neighborhood expansions.
鈥淚鈥檝e had the opportunity to see part of our district grow and then settle, and then the next area grows,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I think, for example, as our Braswell zone continues to grow, I said to my team, 鈥榃e鈥檝e done this before.鈥� We did this when we grew to the south, in the southern part of our district in the Lantana area. We grew rapidly. We rezoned frequently. Those changes are difficult. You鈥檙e welcoming people to your community who don鈥檛 know the history of your community. So, I鈥檝e experienced what we鈥檙e experiencing on U.S. 380 before. I think there鈥檚 every reason to believe we鈥檙e going to experience this north of Denton out toward north of C.H. Collins [Athletic Complex], as well as in our Cole-Hunter [Ranch] area as that grows. We鈥檙e going to keep replicating this process. I think we made some things, like our rezoning process, more efficient.鈥�
O鈥橞ara said she see a future for the district that builds on tradition but prepares students for an economy that will move fast and demand creative thinking.
鈥淚 say a lot that we are a people-first system,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have a lot of expectations for high performance. We have a lot to accomplish.鈥�