A Leadership Pulpit to Uplift Opportunity

Profile

EACH MORNING when Jeffery Smith gets up, he centers himself with prayer, expresses gratitude for his blessings and reflects on his plentiful responsibilities as superintendent in the Hampton, Va., City Schools.

The daily reflection “has helped to anchor me and, from a personal perspective, to focus on what is really important in life,” he says. “My faith has helped me deal with life’s challenges and not be overwhelmed by them.”

Growing up in poverty in a rural community in the Northern Neck of Virginia, Smith found inspiration from a junior high principal with high expectations for every student. After serving as a pastor in a Baptist church during his final two years in high school, in college and following graduation, he began his 30-year career in education as an English teacher. Smith became a superintendent of an 800-student district in 2008, moving to Hampton in 2015.

In mid-March, when the coronavirus swept the country, Smith pivoted to address emergency closings for Hampton’s schools and centers serving 19,500 students. Quick decisions addressed students’ basic needs, and Smith’s calm demeanor and proactive leadership helped staff understand that the mission remained unchanged, but thoughtful innovations were needed.

As a leader, Smith can call on his church sermon experiences to persuade others to commit to hard work on behalf of the greater good.“We will not get to where we want to go if it’s about us,” he says. “We are on a shared journey where others add value on multiple fronts. When we show up (for our work) based on the mission, that is our best.”

Smith, who was one of four finalists for 2020 National Superintendent of the Year, has led major reforms, but none with the complexity and urgency required during the COVID-19 school closure, which he says called for “rebuilding the entire educational aircraft while it’s flying.”

We must believe that each student deserves the opportunity to succeed.

Over the past five years, school board chair Ann Cherry has come to appreciate Smith’s skillful leadership, intelligence and focus on improving the lives of every child. “True leadership is being able to get things done through people and Dr. Smith’s a master at that,” she says. 

When Smith took Hampton’s helm, a top priority of the board was to raise teaching and learning across the district. At that time, only 12 of 31 schools were accredited by the state. A year ago, the district earned full accreditation for the first time. It marked a major milestone for an urban district with a growing population of English language learners and a city where 60 percent of students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch.

Smith’s intensive plan of reform called for differentiating support to schools and employing a tiered approach based on individual school and student needs. He built from places of strength and asked stakeholders to help him redesign the instructional program to raise student performance.

Children’s success depends on adults willing to invest in their future, so the superintendent shares his own life experiences to capture the point. He had a loving grandmother who raised him as a young child, cousins who adopted him after her death and a principal with high expectations. Most extraordinary, he was able to attend college because his small community of 12,000 banded together to make it possible for him to go.

Smith sees himself as a servant leader with a responsibility to provide students with the requisite resources, noting, “We must believe that each student deserves the opportunity to succeed."