Whitefish's new superintendent talks strategy

New Whitefish School District Superintendent Heather Davis Schmidt could be described as a collaborative leader.

That aspect of her leadership style is visible in her office where a large table surrounded by chairs takes center stage.

“I’m very collaborative. I believe in shared decision making — distributive leadership — I believe in supporting the people that I work with,” Davis Schmidt said. “I look at my role as understanding what the community wants, understanding what the schools want and aligning those in an organized way and then identifying what resources and supports are needed to make that happen.”

With a doctorate in curriculum and instruction, it’s no surprise that Davis Schmidt has extensive experience in cultivating new programs.

During her four years as a Missoula County Public Schools executive regional director, Davis Schmidt spearheaded Montana’s first and only public school dual-language immersion program at Paxson Elementary. As a result, Davis Schmidt hopes to learn new languages herself.

“I have come to realize the brain benefits of being multilingual and I want to be multilingual. I’ve come to realize it’s never too late [to learn],” Davis Schmidt said.

“If we want our children to have global competence and language proficiency then I need to also work on my language proficiency. The only way to do that is practicing.”

Last spring break, Davis Schmidt traveled to Laos as part of a professional exchange through the Mansfield Center at the University of Montana. The exchange focused on language immersion education.

“Laos has a goal to have 100 percent of their students be proficient in the Lao national language by 2020,” Davis Schmidt said noting that Laos faces challenges in reaching rural villages where tribal languages are spoken and public transportation to get students to school is nonexistent.

Next summer she is headed to France with one of her daughters. In preparation, Davis Schmidt has been trying to learn French.

In addition to helping establish a dual-language program in her previous position at Missoula, Davis Schmidt was also part of the implementation process of a high school International Baccalaureate program.

Are there plans to bring dual-language or International Baccalaureate programs to Whitefish School District?

“Those things have come up — I don’t think those programs specifically, but it’s more of — we want to become the best school district that we can possibly be,” Davis Schmidt said. “There are a variety of programs and ways to go about doing that. We have not identified what those activities and strategies that we’re going to implement to do that.”

Davis Schmidt said she is still in a “learning and listening mode” of her 100-day entry plan — learning what’s in place and what the community expects from its schools. What drew Davis Schmidt to the district is its clear vision.

“We want to be a learning community of excellence and we have already identified a mission and some strategic goals and the next step we haven’t really gotten to is, OK what are those benchmarks we’re going to measure our progress and what are the strategies and activities we’re going to put in place to do that? When we get to that point that’s when we start having those conversations on what programs are we going to implement to do that,” she said.

In the spirit of collaboration, she is hoping that those conversations on curriculum start with teachers.

“I want those ideas to come from the teachers and the staff and I want to be able to say ‘yes’ to those ideas and help put the puzzle pieces together in a meaningful way,” she said, while taking consideration of how one piece affects another.

When asked if there are any challenges she sees in Whitefish School District, communication was one area she named.

“I think there’s always challenges in any community and in any school district and I think one of the challenges is around communication. There’s never enough communication, so how do we increase that and improve upon that,” Davis Schmidt said.

Davis Schmidt and her husband, Matt, have three children: Megan, Cole and Macy. Davis Schmidt was excited to note she found a place to live just couple of blocks from her office and can walk to work.

“I’m just excited to be here — thrilled to be here.”

When asked about her hobbies, Davis Schmidt replied, “My husband would say my hobby is work. I do love to work.”

She also loves to hike, camp and ski either on water or snow.

While Davis Schmidt was a finalist for a superintendent position in Sequim, Washington, while she was interviewing with Whitefish School District, the Texas Hold ‘em player felt she played her cards right in making Whitefish her new home as she gets to know staff and people in the community.

“I can’t wait for the school year to start,” Davis Schmidt said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.