New leader to replace McCoy
The Jennings School District Board of Education on Tuesday, gave unanimous approval to Paula D. Knight to serve as the north St. Louis County district’s next superintendent.
Knight will replace Art McCoy, who announced last fall that this would be his last year leading the district after over five years as superintendent. Knight’s start date will be July 1, according to a Jennings news release.
After McCoy announced his retirement from Jennings, he was tapped to lead the Regional Business Council’s workforce development program, a job he started on Jan. 4. He will be ending his tenure as superintendent on June 30.
“I’m retiring from the system, not the mission,” he said in a letter to the community in late 2020.
“The work continues in a different way, being a worker outside the system supporting the system inside.”
Regarding Knight’s appointment, McCoy said, “Selecting a strong successor is the most critical step to sustain success. Our amazing Board of Education has done just that with Dr. Paula Knight. She is an amazing education leader with whom I have had the pleasure of serving side-by-side for over two decades. Now, I am proud to pass this torch to Dr. Knight on July 1st.”
Knight will be moving to the Jennings position from her current job as deputy superintendent and chief academic officer in the St. Louis Public Schools, where she began her career in education in 1994 as a classroom teacher at Hamilton Elementary.
The news release noted her numerous community organization involvements. She is a past president of the Urban League Guild-St. Louis chapter, a member of the NAACP, an Education Steering Committee member for the Regional Arts Commission, and a member of the Board of Directors with the United Way of Greater St. Louis, among other volunteer positions.
She was appointed in 2013 to then-Gov. Jay Nixon’s Coordinating Board for Early Childhood, the state’s public/private entity for coordinating a cohesive system of early childhood programs and services. Under Knight’s leadership, student enrollment in Early Childhood programs increased from slightly over 1600 in the city of St. Louis to 2,210 in the 2017-2018 school year.
Early childhood education, Knight said, is her passion.
“I truly believe the earmark of any successful district is based on early childhood education, so ensuring that opportunity is strengthened for all children.”
As such, her primary goals will be to strengthen the beginning and the end of a Jennings student’s education — the Early Childhood program, drawing on her previous experience — as well as the post-secondary opportunities the district offers. In addition, she said, she is excited to be working in a smaller district where she will be able to interact more directly with those she serves.
“I’m going from being responsible for 70+ schools and a large teaching population to a much smaller, more intimate district, which I am truly looking forward to,” Knight said.
“I’m really looking forward to this. It is a tremendous, humbling opportunity.”
The Jennings School District is made up of eight schools serving about 2,500 students.