Offical Press Release of Francis Howell School District

St. Charles, Mo. – Feb. 12, 2010 – The Francis Howell School District Board of Education voted unanimously to hire Dr. Pam Sloan as superintendent of the district beginning July 1, 2010.  The Board will vote to approve Dr. Sloan’s three-year contract as the new Francis Howell superintendent of schools, at the Feb. 18, 2010 Board meeting.

Dr. Sloan, who currently serves as the Chief Academic Officer for the Francis Howell School District, began her career with Francis Howell in 1993 as communication arts teacher at Francis Howell North (FHN) High School. Prior to teaching at FHN, Dr. Sloan taught grades 7-12 in New York, Georgia, Kansas, and Iowa. In 1997 she moved to an assistant principalship at Francis Howell High School (FHHS). In 1999 she became the associate principal at FHHS, and in 2001 she became the principal. While at FHHS, she led the academic charge of increasing student performance through the Professional Learning Communities’ school improvement model.

Dr. Sloan earned a doctorate of education degree and educational specialist degree in educational leadership from Lindenwood University. She received a master’s degree in secondary school administration and bachelor’s degree in English. She also holds a Missouri Superintendent’s Certification. Dr. Sloan has won various leadership awards at the local and state level. She has conducted professional development at the local, state, and national level in the areas of professional learning communities, school leadership and student learning. In her position as Chief Academic Officer, she led school improvement and the academic support systems.

As superintendent, Dr. Sloan plans to focus on student learning and the finances to support all that learning entails, “I want our schools to be more than test scores and budgets. My hope is that we will maintain a focus on the whole student, and that we will continue to do so in a caring and compassionate learning environments.”

The Francis Howell Board of Education’s selection of Dr. Sloan resulted from a five month regional search that was coordinated by the Missouri School Boards’ Association.  The consulting firm received 17 completed applications by the position’s closing date of Jan. 15, 2010. The Board of Education reviewed the applications and selected five candidates for interviews.

Dr. Sloan succeeds Dr. Renée Schuster, who retires June 30, 2010, after serving Francis Howell children and community as an exceptional leader for the past four years.