After a three-month search, Rocky View Schools (RVS) has found its new superintendent of schools. Greg Luterbach will join the division in mid-August and officially take over from the retiring Don Hoium in September.
“He’s a good fit for where we are now,” said RVS Board of Trustees Chair Colleen Munro. “(He has) lots of experience, lots of ability. He’s got a human resources background. He took a step aside from education and worked in business for a while. He’s really solidly focused on student results and he’s worked with a number of school boards. There’s a good fit all around.”
Munro said the board made its decision to hire Luterbach the end of May but required the approval of the Minister of Education before announcing his appointment. She said the board hired the Alberta School Boards Association to help with the search and wanted to find a replacement for Hoium before the end of the school year.
Luterbach is currently superintendent of schools for B.C. School District No. 20 in the Kootenay-Columbia region. He has held this position since 2011. He has been with the division for the past 12 years, serving as director of technology, director of human resources and technology and assistant superintendent before rising to the top position.
No stranger to RVS, Luterbach served as supervisor of technology services with the division from 2000 to 2003.
“For me and my family, we’ve learned along the way that new adventures are always good. Coming to Rocky View was a little bit of a coming home,” he said.
“I’ve got about 10 to 12 years left to work and so I was looking for one more opportunity. When I saw that Don (Hoium) was retiring, I thought, I would love to go back to Rocky View.”
While Luterbach said he is familiar with all the communities in Rocky View County from his previous tenure with RVS, he recognizes there have been some significant changes in the intervening 13 years.
“Any school that existed 13 years ago I’ve physically been in. I know the communities, I know a lot of the staff – but when I left, RVS was 13,000 or so students and now it’s pushing 25,000,” he said. “Hopefully by the time I retire it will be at 35,000.”
The new superintendent said he will soon move his family, including his wife, Carol, and two sons, to Rocky View County.
Luterbach said he is looking forward to working with a Board of Trustees and staff that “puts the kids first.”
“The system is a high-performing school division. It has those dedicated trustees and staff. The biggest challenge is probably around the growth (in the communities), so making sure I continue to work with trustees and government to make sure we have the facilities to put all our students in. I need to build those relationships with those people in Edmonton, too. That’s going to be an important part for me.”
Luterbach has a masters of education specializing in education technology from the University of Calgary and a bachelor of education from the University of Saskatchewan.
“I’d like to get to know staff, parents, partners and the students,” he said. “That’s job number one for me. (RVS) is in the middle of a four-year plan. Our goals are about having successful and engaged and supported learners, so those are my marching orders.”
