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Smith focused on progress as new South Putnam superintendent
With Bruce Bernhardt retiring after 15 years as superintendent of South Putnam Schools, a new educator and leadership advocate will soon be at the helm.
The South Putnam School Board approved Corey Smith as the corporation’s next superintendent during a short special meeting Tuesday evening.
Smith earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics in 1991, a master’s degree in education in 2011 and a post-master’s educational specialist degree in 2019, all from Indiana Wesleyan University. He is currently working toward a doctorate in educational leadership and research at IWU.
After college, Smith was a math teacher and a football, wrestling and track coach at Oak Hill United Schools in Converse. His wife Shelley then took an occupational therapy position in North Carolina, where he found an interest in banking. After they moved back to Fishers in the late 1990s, Smith entered into mortgage banking. He eventually became the chief operating officer of a mortgage company in Fort Wayne.
In 2006, Smith returned to teaching math and coaching football at Taylor Community Schools in Howard County. While there, he led the middle school’s Project Lead the Way (PLTW) initiative as its lead teacher, grant writer and program coordinator. He then developed a PLTW engineering pathway at Taylor High School.
In 2016, Smith was tapped as the chairman of a district-wide professional development initiative for staff and administrators. Since, 2018, he has served as the corporation’s ELL director and Title II, III and IV federal grant director, as well as an administrator at Taylor Elementary School.
“In kind of big-picture thinking, we all learn at high levels where we have a concentration on learning,” Smith told the Banner Graphic. “It’s not, ‘Hey, Corey’s supposed to be coming in with all these ideas.’ It’s about us working together to solve the problems that are unique to South Putnam.”
Smith said that using feedback from the students, staff and the community at large would be how those problems are addressed. He believes his business background will bring a more data-based mindset in terms of development.
“I bring that aspect to it, but at the same time, I bring a continuous improvement process to everything,” he said. “Those experiences in business of continually getting better have translated for me over the last 15 years in education to do better every day, to help staff and students get better every day.”
Smith said that educational improvements hinge on four questions: What should students understand and learn? How do educators know students do or don’t know? What can they do if they didn’t learn it? What can they do if they did?
“One of those (elements) is that ongoing professional learning community,” he said. “That we have a collective effort that goes forward to meet the needs that are presented to us. As we develop the data and get that feedback from the different tools that we have or we develop, we can use those tools to make things better.
“It’s all about working together to better what we’re trying to already do,” he added. “As we do that, it makes things more efficient and more effective.”
Smith said being able to look at issues and facilitate solutions is what excites him about coming to South Putnam. He also cautioned that building upon the strengths should never be ignored. Connecting with families is part of this process.
“In working in a small school district, the families are an integral part of what’s going on in the school system,” Smith said. “They’re at the ball games, they volunteer for different things, their kids are actively involved. That family unit and that strong community feel allows me to be able to build those relationships.”
Developing those relationships and maintaining a positive culture in the schools will be the primary goals as he steps into his new role as superintendent.
“In order to affect good change or effective change, you have to work with the people who are in there every day,” Smith said. “In other words, seeing where they’re coming from and then being able to take my expertise and my experiences and bring them to those conversations.
“It’s not a top-down approach, it’s about going to those who are in the community and those teachers and staff members and seeing the problems that they are dealing with every day,” he added. “Without the relationships, change is no good.”
Smith and his wife have lived in Converse for the last 18 years and have two adult children.
Smith’s three-year contract, which was also approved at the meeting, will be effective on July 1. Meanwhile, Bernhardt’s retirement will come on June 30.