New Superintendent Excited to Be Part of 'Same Team'

The new superintendent of Bensalem schools sounds like he's got it made.

David Baugh says he's in a great position following in the footsteps of Bill Gretzula especially since his predecessor is remaining part of the administration.

“Even though we've changed, it's still the same team,” he said. “That's incredibly exciting and unusual in education.”

“Obviously my style is different than Bill's,” he added when asked. “I'm very action-oriented and he is the reflective, thoughtful practitioner. One of the beautiful things about this relationship is that Bill is still part of the team.”

Baugh, 49, was named superintendent early this month close to two months after Gretzula stepped down to spend more time with his family. Gretzula, who was originally planning to be a district teacher, has been named supervisor of curriculum and instruction – professional development and assessment.

Baugh, assistant superintendent since Oct. 2009, says his game plan for the district is to keep things moving on the same rising path.

“Seven of our nine schools just made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress federal standard) outright and two have valid appeals. So for the first time in seven years we might be looking at all schools making AYP,” he said. “Even Bensalem High School which has had a perennial problem with AYP had phenomenal growth this past year.”

Asked about his priorities, he said, “A lot of attention is is on what we've been doing – developing teacher expertise and figuring out where students are and customizing their learning.”

But he acknowledged that developing that expertise is more challenging after about 40 teachers retired last year.

“Unfortunately we lost a lot of veterans … and it hurts us when we lose that level of expertise,” he said. “The flip side of that coin is that we are hiring just phenomenal new teachers and some are not young. Some are career-changers; people who want to help change the world and teach. And most of the folks have at the very least been teaching as long-term substitutes, and many have worked for us already.”

Baugh was unable to attend the Aug. 3 meeting where his four-year contract was approved but he provided a letter thanking the school board. In it, he referred to a decision he made earlier this year to stay with the district, and he elaborated Sunday to Patch.

“I had been recruited for a superintendent position in New Hampshire and I explored that as an option but I decided to stay on as number two,” he said.

While the board decided against advertising the superintendent position when Gretzula announced his resignation, Baugh pointed out that a national search was conducted when he was chosen assistant superintendent.

Baugh earned his doctorate at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. He earned his master’s of humanities degree with emphasis in psychology and philosophy from the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, Scotland; a master’s of science degree in special education from the State University of New York; and a master’s of science degree in elementary education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Baugh began his education career as an itinerant teacher for the visually impaired in 1986. He has held various teaching positions in the Upper Darby School District and was appointed assistant principal in 2001 and principal in 2002. From 2005 to 2009, he served as principal at the K-8 Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey School in Philadelphia.

The son of parents in the foreign service, Baugh was born in Bogota, Colombia and celebrated his 4th birthday in Africa before being raised in Indiana.

He can't seem to stress enough how fortunate he is when it comes to his latest move.

“By me stepping into Bill's shoes, that's as smooth a transition as it's going to get,” he said. “I'm not launching any new initiatives. The work we've been doing is the right work.”

“I'm really excited,” he added. “We're in a good place and well-positioned to do some wonderful things.”