COMMUNITY

Alamogordo school board names superintendent of schools

Nicole Maxwell
Alamogordo Daily News
The Alamogordo Public School District board meeting room erupted in a standing ovation for the board's decision to name Jerrett Perry APS superintendent. Perry has been serving as acting/interim superintendent since September.

ALAMOGORDO – Since September, former Alamogordo High School Athletic Director Jerrett Perry has been acting/interim Alamogordo Public Schools Superintendent.

At their regular meeting on Jan. 16, the APS Board of Education voted unanimously to hire Perry on as superintendent until 2020.

“In November, we agreed as a board to allow Mr. Perry to continue for a little while longer after having asked him to assume this position in the early part of September,” APS School Board President Timothy Wolfe said. “We felt it was advisable and prudent to allow him to continue in the efforts that he had begun, and we thought that a few more months would be helpful for him to get a little stability re-established in the district and to help him accomplish some of the things he was in the middle of.”

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The board held an executive session on Monday, Jan. 14, where they “found that Mr. Perry was agreeable and receptive to continuing on as our superintendent,” Wolfe said.

He said the APS Board of Education has been happy with Perry’s accomplishments in the five months he has served as acting/interim superintendent.

“We are definitely moving in the right direction,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe made a motion that the APS Board of Education hire Perry as superintendent pursuant to a contract

Once the board's unanimous vote was taken, the school board meeting room erupted in a standing ovation.

Perry was named acting superintendent after embattled former Superintendent Adrianne Salas submitted her letter of resignation in September. She went on extended leave from Sept. 5 until Dec.1. His job title changed to interim superintendent on Dec. 2.

APS Superintendent Jerrett Perry

Perry's term as superintendent will be effective Jan. 16, 2019 through June 30, 2020.

“I’m excited about the direction the district is going," Perry said. "We are certainly on an upward trajectory.”

Earlier in the meeting Perry delivered his superintendent’s report where he praised the community for being actively involved in school and school issues.

“We are poised in the APS to be a leader in the New Mexico. The Alamogordo community has all of the ingredients of leading the charge in 21st century learning and teaching,” Perry said. “I’m very, very excited about the potential that is coming and I look forward to tomorrow.”

Perry thanked faculty and staff for their hard work and support during this time of change and transition.

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“The outpouring of support and seeing the drive of professionalism has just really humbled me,” Perry said.

Perry named his spring semester goals which are school safety, academic performance, continue STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs expansion, expand CTE (Career Technical Education) and college preparatory academies and getting resources and “boots on the ground” in the elementary's.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and I believe that we are poised and ready to do that,” Perry said.

He said the district is in the process of establishing a plan to transition from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam to another standardized test.

Alamogordo Public Schools Board of Education President Timothy Wolfe, APS Superintendent Jerrett Perry, APS Board Vice President Angela Cadwallader and APS School Board Member David Borunda listen to public comment at their regular meeting Tuesday, Jan. 16.

“That will be an interesting process, but we are ready to rock ‘n’ roll,” Perry said.

Perry graduated from Silver High School in 1988. He attended New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, N.M. on a football scholarship before transferring to New Mexico State University then graduating in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in Education. He went back to NMSU for his Master of Arts degree in Education Administration that he received in 2004.

He also went to the New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders at the University of New Mexico 2013-2014 Inspiring Superintendent Academy where he studied superintendent preparation and development.

From his days as a student athlete at Silver High School to becoming the superintendent for the Tigers, his journey has taken him to Carrizozo where he served as both vice principal and principal, Capitan High School principal and athletic director. He was also a coach in Deming and Ruidoso before coming down the road a piece to Alamogordo.

In 2017, Perry was named Class 5A Athletic Director of the Year from the New Mexico Activities Association.

Perry’s wife, Michelle, has been named Associate Vice President of Extended Programs at New Mexico State University-Alamogordo in January. she recently served as APS' Director of Secondary Education.