The Kennett Consolidated School District warmly welcomes Dr. Barry Tomasetti to the community as its new superintendent.

Dr. Tomasetti comes to the Kennett Consolidated School District from central Pennsylvania’s Mifflinburg Area School District in Union County where he served as superintendent for 10 years.  While in the Mifflinburg Area School District, Dr. Tomasetti worked with the school board, teachers and parents to improve learning opportunities for all students.  “Our goal was to enable students to become better critical thinkers and problem solvers,” Dr. Tomasetti noted.

In the past, Dr. Tomasetti served as the Director of Elementary Education in Harrisburg’s Central Dauphin School District, which has one of the largest student populations in the state with an enrollment exceeding 12,000 students. He also served as an elementary principal in both the Easton Area School District and the Fort Bend Independent School District in Texas.  While in Texas he also taught in a school on the Mexican-American border.

Dr. Tomasetti earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Iowa, and he holds a master’s degree in instructional leadership from the University of Houston. For his doctorate, Dr. Tomasetti studied educational leadership at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

In 2009, Dr. Tomasetti received the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators’ Instructional Leadership Award. The association later appointed him as the chairperson for its staff development committee, which is responsible for providing learning opportunities for administrators in schools throughout the state.

Dr. Tomasetti’s immediate goal is to develop an entry plan which includes becoming familiar with the people and community of the District. This process includes attending community meetings and interviewing key members of the community as well as the District’s staff and faculty.  His entry plan will introduce the community, the staff and faculty to his belief system, characteristics of which include:

• Instructional leadership that has a clearly defined school mission shared by school personnel and families
• A strong instructional focus, understanding the advancement of student learning
• High expectations for the performance of all students, presenting students with strategies to compete with their peers
• A safe and orderly environment for learning that includes community involvement, communication with parents and transparency at all levels
• Ongoing assessment of student learning, which includes daily classroom assessments, PSSA and SAT scores, and the opinions of parents and staff

“I’m excited to be here in Kennett - a District that respects the educational process, with accomplished and committed faculty and staff, in a community that embraces its diversity.  I feel that the Kennett Consolidated School District is an excellent fit for me and my family,” Dr. Tomasetti said.

Dr. Tomasetti and his wife Linda have three boys who are enrolled in the Kennett Consolidated School District - Barry Jr. is a sophomore at Kennett High School, Cory is at the middle school, and Kerry in fifth grade.  Besides enjoying quality family time, reading, exercising and riding his motorcycling are Dr. Tomasetti’s releases.