Sunnyvale School District sees new superintendent as ‘transformative’ leader

The Sunnyvale School District board on June officially hired Dr Gudiel Crosthwaite as its new superintendent effective July Crosthwaite bulk in recent months served as superintendent of Lynwood Unified School District in Los Angeles County where he helped achieve increases in graduation rates and a surge in participation in Advanced Placement courses This led to Lynwood Unified being named a AP District of the Year by the College Board a distinction received by only three districts nationwide In he spearheaded the effort to secure million in state funding for the rebuilding of Lynwood High School s Imperial Campus At the national level Crosthwaite is a member of the League of Innovative Schools which promotes creative use of device in the classroom and Mentoring Leaders of Color or Edloc which works to dismantle systemic limitations to teaching for marginalized people in this country As part of its selection process the district s Board of Guidance used information gathered from four population forums an online survey that garnered more than responses and input sessions with educational partners which included staff families students and locality partners Board president Bridget Watson noted in a release that trustees incorporated their collective input into our job description interview questions and evaluative discourse We believe we ve identified an experienced transformative educational leader in Dr Gudiel Crosthwaite Watson mentioned He is deeply committed to equity and a vision for improved outcomes for all students Crosthwaite succeeds Michael Gallagher the district s superintendent since who is retiring on June The district plans to schedule opportunities in the new school year for staff parents guardians and public members to welcome Crosthwaite In a release Gallagher highlighted Crosthwaite s nearly years of dedicated experience and remarkable track record His leadership at Lynwood Unified marked by achieving critical academic gains and securing crucial funding for students clearly demonstrates his commitment to educational excellence and population partnership Gallagher noted I have no doubt his collaborative spirit and vision will greatly benefit Sunnyvale s students Crosthwaite is married and has two college-age children One is pursuing a bachelor s degree and the other is working toward a master s degree in coaching The new superintendent himself holds an undergraduate degree from UCLA two master s degrees from California State University Los Angeles and Harvard Graduate School of Training and a Ph D in Development from Claremont Graduate University