Bethel Board of Ed Appoints New Superintendent of Schools

Bethel Public Schools sent out the following message Thursday evening announcing the appointment of a new superintendent to take over for Dr. Kevin Smith, who joins Wilton Public Schools this summer.

Smith’s replacement will be Dr. Christine Carver, formerly the Associate Superintendent of Human Capital Development and Chief of Staff at Newington Schools and Assistant Superintendent in New London before that.

The full message from Bethel Schools:

The Bethel Board of Education has appointed Christine L. Carver, Ed.D. as the new Superintendent of Schools for the District. Dr. Carver comes to Bethel after having served as the Associate Superintendent of Human Capital Development, Chief of Staff in Newington, CT.

Dr. Carver was selected from a pool of 15 candidates. Throughout the process, the Board of Education relied on the feedback gathered in the Bethel Community Profile Assessment Report and developed through focus group input and online survey research in the spring.  

“The Board is excited to have Bethel’s new educational leader, Dr. Christine Carver, join our school system. Her background, experience and people skills match up near perfectly with our needs. We are fortunate to have found a candidate who feels equally enthused about the opportunity to lead Bethel to its next level of excellence. What was most satisfying to the Board was knowing that Dr. Carver’s own professional goals and interests matched up with the District’s. Together, the school system, with Dr. Carver at the helm, will sustain its quality education momentum, and its ability to aggressively grow student achievement and learning,” stated Lawrence Craybas, Chairman of the Bethel Board of Education. “When our search began to replace departing Superintendent Dr. Kevin Smith, our hope was to find a candidate who had the educational experience and credentials that lined up with the teaching disciplines where we either had a number of new Administartors or people in expanded roles. The School District has lost three key leaders to either retirement or departure to another District. The Board’s priority was to offset this loss of expertise with the right backups and the best District leadership that could be found. We have found that leader in Dr. Carver. The Board eagerly looks forward to her Aug. 4 start date.”

Following is Dr. Christine Carver’s statement upon learning she had been selected for the Bethel superintendent position. “I am thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to lead a progressive School District like Bethel, focused on providing rigorous educational opportunities for all its students. I look forward with great anticipation in helping the Bethel Board of Education and educators in meeting the district goals of preparing all students to be college ready and capable of meeting the challenges they will face in their 21st Century world.”
 
Dr. Carver is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and Sacred Heart University. She received her Doctorate of Education in 2009, her Sixth Year in Administration in 2001, her Master of Science in Special Education in 1997 and her Bachelor of Science in Special Education in 1991.

Dr. Carver began her career as a Special Education Teacher at Whittier Union High School in Whittier, CA in 1991. She continued her special education teaching career at Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, CT in 1993. She then became a Special Education Teacher and Department Chair at New London High School before being appointed the Supervisor of Special Education in 2002 and then the Director of Special Services in 2003, also in New London. In 2008, she was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Schools in New London from 2008 until May 2012, serving as Interim Superintendent of Schools in the summer of 2009. After four years, she became the Associate Superintendent of Human Capital Development, Chief of Staff in Newington, CT.

Dr. Carver is a member of the Council for Exception Children, the American Association of School Administrators, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the American Associate of School Personnel Administrators and the District Management Council.

Dr. Carver will serve as Bethel’s superintendent beginning August 4, 2014. C.E.S Executive Search Services coordinated the Board of Education’s search for Bethel’s new school superintendent.