Clint Mitchell Wants to Work 'Side by Side' with Staff and Community

Mitchell comes from Colonial Beach Public Schools, where he has served as superintendent since January 2022.

By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Clint Mitchell collected 55 pages of typed, single-spaced notes during the process of getting to know the Colonial Beach community early in his tenure as superintendent there.

“I wanted to learn and see what people’s hopes and dreams were,” Mitchell—who was announced last night as the next superintendent of Spotsylvania County Public Schools—told Ted Tait during a January 2023 interview on Colonial Beach’s “Town Matters” radio show. “[Those notes] have been very, very, very valuable to me.”

Mitchell will begin his time in Spotsylvania with the same intensive period of questioning and listening.

Following the announcement Monday evening of his appointment effective August 1, Mitchell addressed the School Board and audience.

“It’s my goal to be able to hold some listening sessions in each of your districts to hear from citizens,” he said. “It’s also my goal to sit and meet with every single principal, as well as other community leaders, to get a chance to know them and hear their priorities.”

“I can tell you there are going to be questions I ask,” Mitchell continued. “The questions are very simple—what traditions and beliefs do we value as a school district? What are the strengths of Spotsylvania County? What are the challenges? What are the things we have to keep?”

He said it’s not his intention to come in and immediately implement a slew of changes.

“It’s not going to be that way,” Mitchell said. “I’m going to listen and ask for ideas on how to improve as a district. The reality is that the work cannot be done by myself. It’s a collective effort.”

Mitchell comes to Spotsylvania following two years as superintendent in Colonial Beach and more than 20 years as a teacher and principal in New York City and Prince William and Fairfax County public schools.

He serves as a member of the Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s task force on chronic absenteeism, chairs the Virginia Alliance of Black School Educators membership committee, is the Region 3 Virginia Association of School Superintendent’s professional development lead, and is a principal advisor for Share Our Strength-No Kid Hungry regarding best practices to address student chronic absenteeism and the impacts of food insecurity on students.

Mitchell was nominated to be the 2024 Region 3 Superintendent of the Year, and in 2021, he received the National Association of Elementary School Principals’ National Distinguished Principal Award.

On the “Town Matters” program, Mitchell said one of the biggest takeaways from his listening sessions in Colonial Beach was that people from all corners of the community—both within and outside of the school community—want to be more involved with the schools and want the schools to be more transparent.

“All parents want to be involved. The problem is, they don’t know how, so we as leaders have to teach them how. We have to go to them.”
-Clint Mitchell on “Town Matters,” January 2023

He said it’s the responsibility of education leaders like himself to make it as easy as possible for this involvement to happen.

“In my experience, sometimes as educators, we make excuses — ‘Oh, the parents are working two jobs, they don’t have time.’ But I say to that, it’s nothing but nonsense,” Mitchell said. “If you really, truly want to get parents involved, you have to meet them where they are. That means being active in the community. Attending events. Having conversations when you meet parents. Riding the bus—I do that quite often. Stopping at the bus stop. Engaging in the supermarket.”

He continued, “All parents want to be involved. The problem is, they don’t know how, so we as leaders have to teach them how. We have to go to them.”

On Monday, Mitchell introduced his wife, Giovanni, and his youngest daughter, Kylie, and said the process of applying and interviewing for the position of superintendent in Spotsylvania was, “One of the toughest things I’ve ever done.”

He thanked interim superintendent Kelly Guempel and staff for leading the division this year and School Board members for “the opportunity to represent” Spotsylvania.

“It is an honor to be chosen as your next leader,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work side by side with staff and the audience in order to elevate us to the next level.”

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