At its meeting last evening, the Albemarle County School Board approved the appointment of Dr. Patrick McLaughlin as assistant superintendent, effective July 1. Dr. McLaughlin, who has been the Chief of Strategic Planning for the division since 2018, will continue to lead the Office of Strategic Planning, Accountability & Research, and Program Evaluation and will begin working even more closely with individual schools on the alignment of their performance improvement planning with the division’s strategic plan.
The new assistant superintendent brings 15 years of senior-level administrative experience to his enhanced role, which has included serving as the principal of the division’s largest middle school, Henley, for eight years and one year as interim principal for Western Albemarle High School.
Among the highly influential roles he has fulfilled more recently, Dr. McLaughlin directed the multi-year research, development, and community collaboration that resulted in the school board’s adoption of Learning for All, the division’s strategic plan. He also was the lead educator overseeing the monthly reporting of COVID-19 data to the school board. Those reports have guided the design of mitigation strategies and practices that have prevented large-scale transmission of the virus in schools.
Dr. McLaughlin frequently leads breakout sessions of school board members that focus on how to enhance policies, student learning, and the learning environment. He also has managed the division’s student academic assessment programs, including the annual Standards of Learning (SOL) tests administrated to all students in grades 3-12 as well as the SAT tests, which are now offered without cost to high school students.
“This is a well-deserved increase in responsibilities for a thoughtful, collaborative, get-to-the-bottom-line leader,” said Dr. Matthew Haas, Superintendent of Schools. “Dr. McLaughlin willingly embraces and excels in the concept of accountability. The data and analyses that he provides to me and to our school board empower us to build on what is going well and to improve on what needs to be better,” Haas added.
Examples, Superintendent Haas pointed out, are the policy and program evaluations and the online surveys that represent the views of employees, students, and community members produced and supported by his department’s team. Among the key mission areas for the Office of Strategic Planning, Accountability & Research, and Program Evaluation, moving forward, are to:
- Evaluate, report and advise on key division initiatives and programs;
- Develop, implement, monitor and assess division-wide and school-specific strategic improvement plans;
- Facilitate and support local, state and national testing;
- Coordinate applied research in the school division; and
- Anticipate emerging organizational needs and advise division leadership of solutions that address those needs.
Dr. McLaughlin attended Albemarle County Public Schools. He is an undergraduate of the University of Pittsburgh and received both his master’s degree and Doctor of Education from the University of Virginia. He is a past recipient of the Virginia Board of Education’s Distinguished Achievement Award, and during his tenure as Henley’s principal, the school received a Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) award for academic excellence.
In 2015, Dr. McLaughlin was promoted from being Henley’s principal to being the division’s Strategic Planning Officer, and then became Chief of Strategic Planning in 2018. Dr. McLaughlin joins current assistant superintendents, Dr. Bernard Hairston and Dr. Clare Keiser. Dr. Hairston has announced that he will retire on June 30.
Pictured: Patrick McLaughlin
CONTACT: Phil Giaramita, Strategic Communications Officer
PHONE: 434-972-4049