Jeff Grimsdale to take over as GHSD Superintendent
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Jeff Grimsdale has been appointed the new superintendent for the Golden Hills School Division (GHSD) following the retirement of Bevan Daverne.
Grimsdale has more than two decades of service in the education industry under his belt, having worked as a teacher, principal, learning director, and as an Associate Superintendent for the GHSD.
“I am very excited to be stepping into this role of superintendent for Golden Hills … this is my 27th year here, but I have held many positions for the last nine years,” he said. “I do have some big shoes to fill up. Being able to work with Bevan for the last number of years has been fantastic. He is a great role model and leader.”
Grimsdale emphasized he intends to continue to reinforce the GHSD desire for student success, continuous system improvement and culture of learning.
Student success, he said, is the number one priority for the division, and he has collaborated with Daverne to great extent regarding the future direction of the GHSD.
“We are always looking for innovative and creative ways to improve our achievements … I fully believe in our motto – ‘powering hope and possibilities,’ and that is what we have done here,” said Grimsdale. “(Daverne) has provided advice for sure on moving forward on the things that we are doing … we have new curriculum implementation and so we have done a lot of work with career connections for our students to continue providing great programming and opportunities for our students.”
Grimsdale said he discovered a passion for teaching during his post-secondary education, as he was given an opportunity to go into schools, instructing physical education classes.
“When I was in university, I was not exactly sure what I was going to do. One of my courses was physical education, and so when I did that, I had the opportunity to go into schools,” he said. “As soon as I did that, I knew that was my calling. From there, I started teaching, then became an associate principal, principal, and then worked my way through the system, wanting to support and try to improve student learning.”
Grimsdale will be making a personal visit to each school within the GHSD to introduce himself in his new position to staff and students.
The GHSD team will be preparing for the new school year over the course of the summer. Grimsdale’s position as Superintendent of Schools will officially begin in September, as Daverne’s role comes to a close at the end of August.