Newly-appointed Mathews Schools Superintendent Dr. David Daniel delivered a welcome address to teachers and other school employees during the division’s annual convocation, held on Wednesday, Aug. 16 at Mathews High School.

Daniel, who had stepped into the position just six weeks earlier, jokingly said that West Point Public Schools, his former employer, was an “enemy” of Mathews Public Schools, but that he took some pride in the fact that while serving as a principal at West Point, he had helped to “make it an entity that played nice in the sandbox.”

“I hope you find me to be a collaborative, relationship-based person,” he said.

During a brief slide show, Daniel outlined his career in education, saying his 23rd birthday had been on the first day of school in his first year of teaching, and that he spent the next seven years teaching social studies and coaching cross country and girls’ soccer.

“Coaching helped me as much as teaching did,” he said, adding that lessons can be learned when there are “parents yelling at you and people second-guessing you.”

He then spent three years as assistant principal for two Gloucester elementary schools, alternating a week at a time at each one. While he was “an okay high school teacher,” he said, “I learned about instruction at elementary schools. You can’t be mediocre and survive elementary school. You have to teach kids how to use those squiggly lines to make them have meaning.”

He moved on again, serving as assistant principal and then principal at the old Page Middle School.

“Seventh grade is its own mental illness,” he said to audience laughter. “Once you give up the expectation of reason and logic, you’re more likely to survive.” He said he was proud of the fact that he and his “seasoned, tough” staff were able to bring the school up to fully accredited status in a year and a half.

“We changed the perception of the school,” he said. “The vibe had changed.”

Daniel’s last stint as a principal was for West Point Public Schools, where he was the middle school principal for five years, director of innovation for five years, and the middle school/high school principal for two years before accepting his current position.

“I wanted to work in a different system,” he said.

Daniel said that highlighting the good things about a school system is important.

“We’re not doing a great job of selling the good things that are happening,” he said. “We need to be aggressive about our achievements—about making sure that every single kid is gonna get it. About not being okay with ‘that group is not gonna get it.’ That’s a bit of a mindset—being aggressive about yourself and the kids.”

Daniel showed a photo of his family and told about his own childhood—about growing up in a “double-wide trailer in a field” with a mom who lost her own mother as a child and had to raise herself and a dad who was a high school dropout and a “part-time recovering alcoholic for most of his life.”

“If you laid it out on paper and described this family,” he said, “you’re not going to expect this kid is going to have four college degrees and lead a school division.”

Daniel was the child who “deflects stressful situations through humor and reading,” he said, while his brother was “the rebel and rule-breaker.” But somehow, he said, his parents were able to raise two children who were “successful in very different ways.” He was the first person in his family to go to college, while his brother owns a successful business as a mechanic.

“When you have a conversation about equity, it’s about making sure that every child in Mathews is given the tools to be successful,” he said, “whether they come from a double-wide in a field or a house with a guest house.”

Daniel said he’s an advocate for college and for career and technical schools—for “aggressive achievement” in general.
“Our purpose is to prepare students, to open doors for them, regardless of their past,” he said.

Daniel then laid out his guideposts for the school system. First, he said, “We need to restore trust and confidence in the school system so that as families move to Mathews they want their children to go to Mathews schools.”

Second is retaining the existing staff, students and families, and third is recruiting new faculty, staff, students and families.

“We want to bring in new students and bring private school students back,” he said.

Establishing division-wide behavioral expectations is important, as well, said Daniel, “starting with our own behavior and student behavior.” He said he plans to tighten up attendance, get better at professional development, address safety issues, make the website more user-friendly, streamline social media, and work on deploying finances “the right way.”

He said he needs to meet with staff in each of the schools and develop a plan for each that “makes sense to that staff, that community.”

“It’s about communicating what we’re doing, so parents know what’s going on,” he said.

Finally, Daniel thanked those present for “coming to Mathews, for choosing Mathews.”

“I chose Mathews,” he said. “I’m glad you did, too.”