Former local principal receives state, national recognition

BOISE — Wallace School District Superintendent Bob Ranells already knew that he was ‘marrying up’ when he tied the knot with his wife, Mary Ann. With her recent state and national recognition as the West Ada School District Superintendent though, he may fear that it’s becoming even more apparent.

On Oct. 1 of this year, Mary Ann was named the 2018 Idaho Superintendent of the Year by members of the Idaho Association of School Administrators (IASA). According to Idahoednews.org, candidates for the title were judged based on student achievement, instructional leadership, community engagement and relationship with the board of trustees.

“Ranells is recognized around the state as an outstanding leader,” said executive director of IASA Rob Winslow. “She is passionate about student achievement and values her teachers and school leaders.”

As if this wasn’t impressive enough, it was announced on Dec. 17 that Mary Ann was named as a finalist in the 2019 National Superintendent of the Year award.

Idahoednews states that in order to be considered for this incredible honor, applicants were graded in four categories: Leadership for learning (creativity in successfully meeting student needs), communication (strength in personal and organizational communication), professionalism (constant improvement of administrative knowledge and skills, while providing professional development opportunities and motivation to others on the education team), and community involvement (active participation in local community activities and an understanding of regional, national and international issues).

Mary Ann and the other three finalists will have an opportunity to meet the national education community during a Jan. 10 news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The other finalists are:

- Jeff Butts, Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township, Indianapolis, Ind.

- Curtis Jones Jr., Bibb County School District, Macon, Ga.

- Brian Woods, Northside Independent School District, San Antonio, Texas

A $10,000 college scholarship will be presented in the name of the winner to a student in the high school from which they graduated.

Mary Ann’s career in Idaho education spans more than 44 years and includes her holding a plethora of different teaching and administrative positions across the state.

Teacher, principal, director of curriculum, deputy superintendent and superintendent are all titles that she has held at one time or another.

Other than her obvious ties to Shoshone County through her husband and second home in Osburn, Mary Ann also served as the principal of Silver Hills Elementary for a time before becoming the superintendent of the Lakeland School District. The six years she spent working in Rathdrum (and brief retirement) would be a precursor to her eventual move to West Ada.

Speaking of her recent accomplishments, Bob says that of course he is proud of his wife, but what she has achieved goes beyond that too.

“It’s a neat thing for all of us here in the Silver Valley and for Idaho,” he said.

Mary Ann could not be reached for comment by press time.

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Idahoednews.org contributed to this report.