By Leslie Luna

An enthusiastic leader with 20 years of experience in public schools, alternative schools and international schools, Dr. Benjamin Churchill is settling into his position as the new superintendent of the Carlsbad Unified School District. The 43-year-old has been on the job for a month and he’s looking forward to developing strong relationships with the Carlsbad community. In his new role, Churchill will oversee 16 schools with more than 11,000 students.

Chamber staff learned Churchill’s reason for wanting this position and his priorities for the district’s future.

What drew you to this position?  My wife and I dreamed about moving to Southern California for some time. About a year ago, I started keeping my eye on superintendent vacancies in the San Diego County area. I was thrilled to learn about the opportunity in Carlsbad, as it is an excellent district in a beautiful city with many activities for families. My kids have been to the beach just about every day since we arrived earlier this month, and we’ve all quickly fallen in love with Carlsbad. I continue to be impressed with the district, and I look forward to supporting the already excellent work underway in Carlsbad Unified.

What will you miss the most about Illinois? I’ll miss family and friends, but just about everyone I know is now planning a vacation to Carlsbad, so I’m confident we’ll have lots of visitors. I’ll miss the Cubs, but I’ll be able to see them at least once each year as they come through Petco Park. I will not miss the responsibility of closing schools due to snowstorms or cold weather.

Carlsbad Unified is recognized as one of the highest achieving school districts in the county. How do you plan to continue that? I’m looking forward to working with staff to continue the great things already in place. I’m also looking forward to finding ways to make systematic improvements that will benefit students in all 16 of our schools. As an instructional leader, I’m interested in working with teachers and staff to learn about the challenges they face in maintaining high levels of achievement, and in finding ways to support teachers and staff to continue their excellent work.

You’re particularly interested in classroom technology integration, kindergarten readiness, workforce development, and career pathways for all students. How do you see your role implementing these topics? As superintendent, it is my role to help establish and sustain a shared vision for what we expect our students to know and be able to do. Our Graduate Profile is an excellent resource for focusing our collective work, as it defines the qualities of prepared graduates as effective communicators and collaborators; lifelong learners; critical thinkers; college and career ready scholars; ethical and responsible citizens; and self-directed individuals. As a unified school district, we are fortunate to be able to work with students from preschool through high school; I believe we are responsible for ensuring that every graduate has viable opportunities after high school, whether they choose to attend college or trade school, to enter the workforce, or to serve in the military.

I also believe that we can have the greatest impact on learners at the preschool, kindergarten, and elementary levels, and that we have a responsibility to make sure every student is ready to meet or exceed the expectations of their grade level by the end of each school year. It is no secret that I believe schools can help to achieve some of these goals, but it is important to note that classroom technology is only one small part of a well-rounded education experience for our students. As superintendent, I’ll work with teachers, staff, parents, and other stakeholders to continue to create amazing opportunities for each and every one of our students.

What will be the biggest hurdles to getting these plans into action? I don’t yet anticipate any major hurdles; throughout this summer and fall I will continue to learn as much as possible about the people, history, traditions and expectations of Carlsbad Unified. Job number one for me right now is to develop strong relationships with as many people as possible, and to support the work currently underway.