Ben Small wanted to move up, stay in Washington

Ben Small, Central Valley School District’s new superintendent, knew he wanted to go into teaching after working as a Spokane Burger King manager for three years.

He discovered that he liked working with young people, many of whom were working their first job. “It really solidified that teaching was what I wanted to do,” he said.

Small has never left Washington. He grew up in Inchelium and attended high school in Oroville in Okanogan County. He started his college education at Spokane Falls Community College and earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education and master’s degree in school administration from Eastern Washington University.

“When it came time to transfer, that was the spot I wanted to go,” said Small, 44. “I moved to Eastern because I really liked the teacher education program.”

From there he landed a teaching job at Garrison Middle School in Walla Walla, where he taught a range of subjects, including language arts, math, science and social studies. He also coached football, and boys and girls basketball and baseball. “I just absolutely love being around kids,” he said. “I just had a lot of fun.”

During his last year at the school he was also an administrative intern, which is similar to a student teacher program for administrators. He left Walla Walla in 1996 for a principal position at Columbia Middle School in Burbank, Wash. “Usually the path for administrators is to go to assistant principal,” he said. “It was a chance to be a principal.”

He was the district’s executive director for teaching and learning for a year before moving up to his current position as superintendent in 2003.

Columbia School District is small, with only 960 students compared with Central Valley’s 12,000. “It intrigued me,” he said. “I heard great things about it. Central Valley was a place where I could see myself for a long time. I just thought it was a great opportunity.”

Small was interested in moving his career forward, but didn’t want to leave Washington. He also applied with the Cheney School District. “I know the system,” he said. “I feel comfortable knowing our reform efforts.”

Central Valley’s board of directors repeatedly praised Small’s energy and vision when they voted to hire him. Small said he doesn’t have a specific plan for the district set in stone. “I believe the Central Valley district is a good, solid school district. In order to move to that next level, there are going to be things that we need to do differently. My vision is going to be one that is open to our community, that our community will open themselves to us.”

A good superintendent is not one who comes in and dictates action, but someone who leads. “You don’t do those things by yourself. Leaders build great teams and great teams accomplish great things.”

Small knows he has to deal with the district’s recent failures in passing school construction bonds. Small helped pass Columbia’s first four-year maintenance and operations levy, plus a six-year levy for technology capital projects.

Small is confident that he can make the leap from a small district to a large one. “I think my style of decision-making lends itself to any size school district,” he said. “I’m a person who likes to know people’s names. I like to shake people’s hands. That’s going to be my work for a while.”

Columbia School District Board President Connie Smith is also confident Small can do the job effectively. “He’s motivated, he’s focused,” she said. “Above all other things, he’s not afraid to tackle tough issues.”

Smith has served on the school board since 1988 and had a vote in hiring Small. She lauded the work he did while in Burbank. He implemented a new curriculum review, created a staff induction program, created a new hiring process and reorganized the special education program. He also created a teacher mentor program in the district. “That has been a great benefit to some of our new staff and some of our old staff as well,” she said.

“His departure from the school district is just a huge loss for us. We’re all very, very proud of his accomplishment.”

Smith agreed with the Central Valley board members in describing Small as having a lot of energy, comparing him to the Energizer bunny. “He’s very energetic,” she said. “He never stops.”

Small has been married to his wife, Jen, for four years. The couple have a 2-year-old son and Small has three children from a previous marriage. His wife is a special education teacher but has been staying home with their son. “She’s very excited about the move,” he said. “She’s a wonderful support.”