New village school superintendent an advocate for kids

New superintendent Norm Glismann is looking forward to the new school year in a new school system.

By Virgil Hervey

A native of Omaha, new District of Yellow Springs Schools Superintendent Norm Glismann once served as the principal of a K–12 school in Nebraska that had between 200 and 300 students. He also taught English there and coached football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball and track. Small? Glismann knows small. He knows big, too, having also served for six years as superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, where he administered 60 schools with 17,000 kids. Most recently, he was principal of Bryan High School, in Northwest Ohio, where he moved to be closer to his three daughters who live with their mother in Indiana. That school has about 725 students.

So what brought him to Yellow Springs? The desire to return to central administration, a diverse community that values education, and a Web site that touted our schools’ high level of achievement and showed the “neat things going on at Mills Lawn and the high school” were all factors that prompted him to apply for the job, he said in a recent interview.

Glismann was the unanimous choice of the school board over 30 applicants after a year-long search last year. He takes the place of Tony Armocida, who served as superintendent for 10 years.

When asked about following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Glismann said, “Dr. Armocida left the schools in terrific shape financially, academically and personnel-wise. We have two strong principals and I want to provide them with the resources they need.”

For now he intends to meet people and observe, Glismann said. He wants to get to know the community and its needs.

New programs that have been started, such as the reading literacy initiative and the water immersion program at the high school, and Mills Lawns’ efforts to improve student behavior and boost test scores all have his interest and support, he said. Special education and meeting the needs of all students is also important to him. In that regard, he noted, the Greene County Educational Center is an important resource for a small system such as Yellow Springs.

Glismann sees himself as a student advocate.

“I have no hidden agenda,” he said. “When kids are happy and excited about learning, they will learn.”

One thing that impresses him about Yellow Springs is how the community supports education. In turn, he said, the school board has shown its respect for that support by being fiscally responsible.

“Finance is a big hurdle in Ohio,” he said, noting that the village’s neighboring districts have a history of difficulty in passing school levies, whereas Yellow Springs always manages to pass them by a wide margin.

Glismann is 52 years old and has been an educator for 31 years. He has been a high school English teacher, twice a high school principal, and superintendent of schools at two Catholic dioceses. A product of a Jesuit high school, he holds bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Nebraska, where he played baseball for four years as an undergraduate.

He was good enough as a college baseball player to get a tryout with the Cincinnati Reds and looks like he can still field a line drive and pick off a runner at first. However, he demurred when asked whether he has any coaching ambitions for his new school system, saying he plans to attend school activities of all kinds. He has moved to town, he said, and is “totally immersed, already.”

“I am happy to be here and excited about my new position,” Glismann said.

Contact: vhervey@ysnews.com