Curry Alum Named Virginia Superintendent of the Year
Roanoke, Virginia (May 6, 2009) – Frederick S. Morton, IV, Superintendent of Henrico County Public Schools, was named Virginia’s Superintendent of the Year at the Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS) annual conference in Roanoke. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the officers of four Virginia education organizations selected him from among eight regional Superintendents of the Year.
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| Fred Morton, Virginia Superintendent of the Year |
Mr. Morton has provided inspiring and innovative leadership in Henrico County, one of the largest school districts in the state with 48,000 students. One of his many accomplishments has been the improvement of the student drop-out rate. He recently started a program, which required building administrators to “adopt” ten students not likely to succeed in school and eventually drop out. The program proved to be immensely successful as the three positive contacts a week that the administrators were required to make with their “adopted” students, reduced the number of Henrico’s drop-outs from 678 to 453 in one year.
In presenting him with the Virginia Superintendent of the Year Award, VASS President Don Ford said, “Fred Morton has always been a ‘champion of the underdog’ – the student who never had the opportunity or the recognition or the attention he or she needed to succeed in school. As Superintendent of Henrico County Schools, one of the largest and most diverse school divisions in the state, Fred made it his mission to help the students who needed it the most.”
Mr. Morton has worked as the chief educational officer in Henrico County Public Schools since 2004. Prior to becoming Henrico’s superintendent, he was Superintendent of Montgomery County Schools in Blacksburg, VA. He held other public education positions in Virginia as well, including the principal of Western Albemarle High School in Albemarle County and the principal of Covington High School in Covington.
He received a bachelor of science degree in health and physical education from the Curry School of Education in 1975 and a masters of education degree in administration and supervision from Curry in 1979.
The Virginia Superintendent of the Year Selection Committee included the State Superintendent for Public Instruction, the President of the Virginia School Boards Association, the President of the Virginia Education Association, the President of the Virginia Congress of Parents and Teachers, and the President of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. Mr. Morton (of Region 1) was selected as the state winner from eight regional Superintendents of the Year who were chosen from the entire field of 133 superintendents in Virginia.
As Virginia's Superintendent of the Year, Mr. Morton will be eligible for the National Superintendent of the Year Award, which will be presented in Phoenix, Arizona next February by the American Association of School Administrators.
Four other Regional Superintendents of the Year are also alumni of the Curry School:
Region 3
Richard W. Layman (Ed.D. '00)
Superintendent of Schools
King & Queen County
Region 5
Roger D. Collins (M.Ed. '86)
Superintendent of Schools
Nelson County
Region 6
William Edward Graham, Jr. (M.Ed. '77)
Superintendent of Schools
Covington City
Region 8
Philip L. Worrell (B.S. '75, M.Ed. '79)
Superintendent of Schools
Greensville/Emporia
Information and photo courtesy of the VASS Late Spring 2009 Newsletter.