Retirements, Restructed Region, and New Director
Taylor Smith Jr., MEd, Vice President, Executive Support, ACSI
Retirements
Dr. Alan Graustein and his wife, Joan, will retire from the ACSI Northeast Regional Office at the end of this current school year, June 30, 2009. The Northeast office serves 190 member schools in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Grausteins have served ACSI for over 18 years. Alan served as the region’s director when the office was located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At that time, the region served the mid-Atlantic states in addition to those located in New England.
The growth of Christian schooling in ACSI’s Northeast can be attributed to Alan and Joan’s tireless work with school administrators and teachers in 12 states. In 2001, the Northeast Region was divided into two smaller regions to provide greater face-to-face contact with member schools. Alan and Joan moved to New Hampshire to head the divided Northeast Region, which consisted mostly of New England states. Dr. John Storey became the director of the newly established Mid-Atlantic Region. Joan joined Alan in the regional office as his executive assistant and provided support for conventions, conferences, accreditation, and the delivery of other ACSI services.
Alan and Joan live in Gilford, New Hampshire, and plan in their coming retirement to work on their historic home and spend time with their grandchildren.
Roger Norrie announced his June 30, 2009, retirement from the ACSI Northwest Regional Office, which is in Vancouver, Washington. Roger is in his 19th year of serving the Northwest Region, which consists of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Before coming to ACSI, Roger served as the school administrator of Faith Bible Christian School in Oregon for 14 years. From 1990 through 1996, Roger served as the associate director of the region. He spent one year as the interim director, and he became the full-time director in 1997.
The number of schools in the region has remained relatively stable during his tenure, but the quality of many of the schools improved drastically as they benefited from the services of ACSI. Fifty-three percent of the member schools in the Northwest Region are accredited through a regional agency, ACSI, or other accrediting entities. Twenty percent of the member schools in that region are accredited by ACSI.
In retirement, Roger and his wife, Mary, plan to spend time with their children and their seven grandchildren and to serve as volunteers in ministry-related activities. Roger enjoys writing choral music and plans to spend more time pursuing that passion.
New Director
Dr. Ken Townsend has been named the new director of the Northwest Region. Ken will assume his director responsibilities beginning July 1, 2009. Ken, who retired in June 2008 as a colonel in the United States Air Force Reserves after 30 years of service, has spent over 24 years in Christian school education.
Before being named to the regional director’s post, Ken served as that region’s associate director for 4 years and as an adjunct professor at Multnomah University. He served from 2000 to 2005 as the superintendent of Nampa Christian Schools in Nampa, Idaho, and as an adjunct professor at Northwest Nazarene University. Ken also served as a principal in elementary and junior high schools in California. He was the founding principal of Mariners Christian School in Newport Beach, California.
During his tenure as the superintendent, Ken led Nampa Christian Schools through a 38-acre, 6.5-million-dollar capital campaign. He created the school’s first Web presence and acquired new technology for both the teaching staff and the students. His actions transformed the school into one of the most technologically advanced schools in the country. Ken was elected ACSI Eastern Oregon/Southern Idaho representative and the chairman of the Idaho Federation of Independent Schools.
Ken believes that Christian schools exist to assist parents in their responsibilities not only for raising their children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord but also for developing children who bring glory and honor to God by interacting with the world from a biblical worldview.
Restructured Northeast Region
President Ken Smitherman (retired 2009) announced that, effective July 1, 2009, the Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) and the Northeast Region (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont) will be consolidated to form an expanded region called the Northeast Region.
ACSI is continuing to focus on administering its North American regions, in part by enhancing services and by increasing personal contact with member schools; and the association has determined that this consolidation will best provide those opportunities.
The new Northeast Regional Office will be in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Current strategies include placing an ACSI regional liaison in New England in support of ongoing services and consultation. The liaison position has been designed to engender a higher degree of person-to-person interaction and hands-on engagement with member schools. In addition, ACSI will retain an assistant director for early education in the New England area.
The plan is that John Storey will continue as the regional director and that Alan Graustein will accept a part-time position to serve the member schools as a regional liaison. Cyndi Bailey and Mary Liz Youtz will both serve as the assistant directors for early education in the new region. ACSI will enhance its convention and conference offerings, student activities, district meetings, and other activities and events through continued active interaction with schools.
The goal is to establish more effective contact with you and to provide more effective delivery of services.
CSE 12.4 Association News