Gladewater ISD’s incoming superintendent brings 28 years of experience

Published 5:35 am Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Rae Ann Patty says since she was a girl in school, she wanted to be in education — “I never wanted to be in anything else.”

Patty, Waskom ISD’s current superintendent, will fill Gladewater ISD’s vacant superintendent position effective Dec. 2.

Gladewater ISD trustees explained their decision: “(Ms. Patty’s) extensive experience and leadership in education… (made her) the ideal person to lead GISD into the future. ”

Patty’s unanimous selection by the board followed the July resignation of former Superintendent Sedric Clark.

Patty grew up in Texarkana before pursuing her childhood aspirations of being an educator at Texarkana ISD. She gathered experience as a special education teacher and an elementary school reading and writing teacher before moving into roles in the district’s central office.

“I became an assistant principal, a principal, and then back to the curriculum office as a coordinator of elementary education for reading and social studies in writing,” she said.

After receiving her superintendent certification, Patty took a position eight years ago at Waskom ISD as assistant superintendent.

“I wanted to be in charge of all curriculum for a district,” she said. But she was also being mentored for the next step in her career.

“The (then) superintendent, Jimmy Cox, came in and said, ‘In about three years, I’m going to retire, and it might be a great transition for you to become the superintendent when I retire,’ ” Patty recalled

She took over for Cox in 2020, running the small school district on the Texas-Louisiana border and picking up accolades along the way.

This past year, Patty was one of 24 education leaders in the state nominated to participate in the 2024-25 District Leadership Fellows program through Southern Methodist University.

Patty said she was ready for a new challenge after almost five years as Waskom ISD superintendent.

“I wanted to try a bigger district, because I’d been in a small district the whole time I’ve been the superintendent, but I’ve received a lot of great training here,” she said.

Patty said the expectations set by the Gladewater ISD board were clear: build on what’s already working.

“One of the things that Gladewater is proud of is their academics. They wanted an instructional leader to be able to come in and continue the things that they have going well there,” she said.

Patty said she wants to inventory all of the district’s instructional material to ensure “teachers have what they need to do their job at a high level — that’s usually the first place I start.” She also wants to bolster the district’s continuing education for teachers, though she already assessed staff training to be one of Gladewater’s strengths.

And Patty hopes to pay forward the mentorship she received as an up-and-coming educator.

“You’re going to have some people that want to accelerate and promote in the district,” she said. “Mentorship is a great passion of mine, making sure people get where they want to be. I want to leave the profession set up with people that are ready to take it over and run it when that time comes.”

During her upcoming tenure at Gladewater ISD, Patty said she will emphasize the value of being present and available to the city’s community as well as the importance of showing up to school events.

“I’m big on attending things, and I’m not just talking about athletics, but band and cheer and agriculture — all of the extracurriculars,” she said. “I want to get to know the community so that I can hear what they want for their kids.”

On Wednesday afternoon, three weeks before her first day as district superintendent, she was already preparing for — and looking forward to — a meet-and-greet event with district staff and community members that evening.