‘Dream job’ for Trussville assistant superintendent
Her degrees had just been hung on the walls, her photos just placed on her desk, but Lisa Berry knew in her first week that this was her dream job.
Berry was named Trussville City Schools’ assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in July, and she has hit the ground running.
“It is my dream job because I feel like I — having a passion for curriculum whether I was a classroom teacher, assistant principal or principal, and making that a focus now — I have the opportunity to do some of that work in a grander scale, in a bigger picture, and have more influence,” Berry said. “In every position I’ve been in, I’ve been very pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish in certain areas, and now I feel like I can do that in a broader fashion.”
Berry had been the principal of Hewitt-Trussville Middle School since August 2013. Before that, she served as assistant principal of both Hewitt-Trussville High School and Hewitt-Trussville Middle School. Berry has also been a science teacher at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School and Deshler Middle School in Tuscumbia.
Berry holds a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Samford University, a specialist degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a master’s of education administration and bachelor’s degree from the University of North Alabama.
“Dr. Berry will enhance our strong administrative team with her expertise in administration, curriculum, test score analysis and social/emotional learning,” Trussville City Schools Superintendent Pattie Neill said. “Dr. Berry is creative and innovative, and I look forward to her new ideas and strategies to take us to the next level of excellence in all K-12 programs.”
Berry said her passion for education, particularly curriculum and instruction, led her to this position.
“I got into education because I absolutely loved school,” she said. “I was a school person. Ever since I can remember, from kindergarten on, I wanted to be at school. I was a full-time school person. I just loved it. Didn’t want to be absent from school. Just made every attempt to be at school, just loved the environment, loved everything about it.”
The transition from a school building to the Central Office won’t be easy: She won’t see students each day.
“I think that’s going to take some getting used to, but I know that I will be working with students in some capacity,” Berry said. “And when I’m in the schools and I’m in the classrooms, I’ll be able to interact with students, but it’s going to look a little different [in this role]. It’s going to take some getting used to.”
Berry said her first weeks in the new position consisted of meeting with principals, academic coaches, new teachers and others to assess where Trussville City Schools stands in terms of curriculum and instruction. It has involved a lot of listening and building off the “wonderful work” already done, Berry said.
Berry said she hopes to take the work that has been done and elevate it, something she will help accomplish with principals, teachers, academic coaches and other support staff.
“We’re in a great position in Trussville City Schools,” she said. “I’m so proud of what we have going on, and all I can hope to do is to enhance that and continue to look for opportunities when they come about and continue to expand.”
Berry’s expectations of herself are to display a passion for students and teachers and to support them to the best of her abilities.
“I think it’s just the commitment I have to this district,” she said. “I think it’s very important. I’m dedicated to this system. I have that loyalty.”
Berry praised Neill, the Trussville City Board of Education, academic coaches, Administrative Assistant Theresa Ray, Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services Mandi Logan, teachers and many more. She knows that for her dream to work, it takes teamwork.
“I’m very much invested in the community and the school district and believe in everything that we have going on,” she said. “You don’t find that everywhere. You don’t.”