After a four month nationwide search, the KSD Board of Education unanimously announced Dr. David Ulrich as the new KSD Superintendent Feb. 21. He will begin his position as the new KSD superintendent July 1, 2020. Ulrich currently serves as the superintendent in the Moffat County RE-1 School District in Craig, Colorado. 

Ulrich has 18 years of experience as an educator in Missouri, serving as principal at Lee’s Summit North High School and director of secondary education for the North Kansas City School District. At North Kansas City School District, he also spent eight years as a teacher. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education and curriculum and instruction from Arizona State University. Ulrich also received a doctorate of education in educational leadership from Saint Louis University. 

“I became familiar with [Kirkwood] when I was the principal at Lee’s Summit North High School. Kirkwood High School was one of the high schools we actively compared ourselves with,” Ulrich said. “When this opportunity came up, I really wanted to pursue it based on the history of student achievement [and] the history of strong community support in the district.”

As superintendent in the Moffat County RE-1 School District, Ulrich was selected as a panelist at the national Project Lead the Way Summit and represented northwest Colorado for the Building a Better Colorado coalition. Ulrich was also selected by Education First, an international education company, to attend professional development in Helsinki, Finland, and was recognized for his work to raise revenue for Colorado schools by Great Schools, Thriving Communities. At KSD, Ulrich said he aims to contribute to the governance plan that focuses on student wellness and success located on the KSD website.

“One of the things you will hopefully see consistently from me is a constant referring back to the [governance plan],” Ulrich said. “The lines are painted for us using the governance plan and you’ll hear me refer to that often as a living breathing document that we’ll go back to. I believe I have the skills [to help] the district achieve its goal for the strategic plan as it relates to the governance plan that is in place.”

Ulrich said he is collaborative and process-driven leader, and he intends the majority of decisions the Board of Education makes will be made in a deliberative, agreed upon way. As superintendent, Ulrich said he hopes to implement those skills into the community.

“The biggest thing I want the community to know is there is a great system in place with regard to making the decision on behalf of kids and I can’t wait to be a part of that,” Ulrich said. “Foundationally, Kirkwood is a great district and good things are going on and I can’t wait to contribute to that.”