The Cedar Ridge School District (CRSD) has announced a new superintendent.
On Wednesday, the Cedar Ridge School Board met and announced Tracey Owens (pictured) as the superintendent for the 2022-23 school year.
Owens has been with the Cedar Ridge School District since the 2012-13 school year, holding positions such as instructional facilitator, director of curriculum and instruction, and most recently, high school principal. She is currently finishing her 28th year in education.
“I want CRSD to be the best school district in the state,” says Owens. “We already have the best teachers, staff, and students. They work hard to ensure our student’s needs are being met – academically and physically. I will continue to support their hard work and be available to all stakeholders.”
The current superintendent, Dr. Sherry McMasters, is resigning to take a position at a school district in Missouri. In a release announcing Owens’ new role, McMasters said the Cedar Ridge School Board did not have to look far to find a qualified applicant.
“The board could not have chosen a better candidate for this position. Due to the passing of my dad in March, I resigned as the Cedar Ridge superintendent effective at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. I have accepted a position in the Bakersfield School District in Missouri, very close to my mother’s home, and I will be moving to that area. Thank you Timberwolves for making me feel at home. You have a great school system, which will continue to improve under the leadership of Mrs. Tracey Owens,” McMasters said in the release.
Owens graduated from Southside High School in 1990, then went on to earn her Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Central Arkansas, followed by a Master of Science in Education and Education Specialist degree from Arkansas State University.
She began her career in education in 1995 at the Southside School District, then later served as a mathematics specialist for the Northcentral Arkansas Education Service Cooperative. She has lived in Newark for nine years with Adam, her husband of 14 years, and their daughter, Addison, 12.
Owens believes in “being upfront with others, communicating regularly, and knowing it takes everyone to make a school successful.”
She will start her position as superintendent on July 1.
Image via Cedar Ridge School District
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