New Superintendent Announced

SMSD announced Michael Fulton as the new superintendent on Monday, Feb. 12. He was chosen out of the three finalists bringing the month-long search to an end and is replacing former interim superintendent Southwick.

Fulton has worked in the Pattonville School District in St. Louis for the past 23 years, serving the last 11 as superintendent until he retired from Pattonville in December of 2017.

Junior Lauren Winston was on the Superintendent Search Team and represented student interest in what students would want out of a superintendent. Winston is interested to see the exact criteria in why they chose Fulton.

“I would like to know how they decided on him,” Winston said. “Thinking about our school district size alone, [Michael Munoz, the other superintendent candidate] came from a bigger school district with more diversity so I feel like he would know how to handle problems we have and we could benefit in our community more.”  

During his time as superintendent, Pattonville grew academically by improving test scores. It was recognized as a school district that “beat the odds” on test scores by the St. Louis Post Dispatch according to the SMSD repository. Niche, a school ranking site, placed Pattonville in the top two percent of school districts in the country.

Fulton has received the Missouri Association of School Administrators two highest awards. He won the Robert L. Pearce Award in 2014, an award honoring the dedication of Missouri superintendents, and the Missouri Superintendent of the Year in 2016.