After almost three years at the helm, Rocky View Schools (RVS) Superintendent of Schools Don Hoium will officially retire Aug. 31. Hoium, who joined RVS in January 2014, is stepping down and said he’s looking forward to enjoying his new life as a retiree.
“(I have) no formal plans at this point. We do have a four and a half year old granddaughter in Saskatchewan so we will be spending considerably more time with her and seeing how the year unfolds – and whether this old guy can adjust to retirement,” he said.
Hoium said he is most proud of the work he was able to accomplish as superintendent on a new four-year plan.
“It really focuses on what is occurring in all of our classrooms everyday,” he said. “It focuses on student success and balancing literacy and numeracy with those larger 21st Century competencies, making certain that we’re engaging students in their areas of interests and that we’re putting supports in place so that all students feel they belong and are being supported in their learning program.”
Hoium, who hails from Saskatchewan, said he found working with the school community in RVS to be a highlight of his time with the division. He said he picked now to retire because so much of the planning work he’d started with RVS had been completed.
“In my career, this is 37 years in, in the education sector so it was just good timing on both sides,” he said.
RVS Board of Trustees Chair Colleen Munro said Hoium will be missed.
“In the three school years that we have worked with him, he has brought our system so far along,” she said. “He’s set us up for more growth with the area directors, and he has been diligent in honouring the board’s wishes in terms of how we see this system going. He understands that it’s the board that puts the public into public education.
“He’s probably one of the most experienced superintendents in Alberta – I would say in all of Western Canada. For him to make Rocky View the last stop in his career is a compliment to Rocky View.”
Hoium said he wanted to extend, “a thank you to all the communities that make up RVS and as well our Board and our staff for the very gracious welcome and support they gave me in my three years here.”
Greg Luterbach has been appointed as the new RVS Superintendent of Schools and Hoium said he will spend his remaining time with the division working with the new superintendent on the transition.
