CENTER— Carrie Zimmerman, now officially Center School’s superintendent after approval of her contract earlier this month, began her official duties last week, appearing for the school’s 100th birthday celebration Friday.

On Tuesday Zimmerman discussed her goals for Center Schools and how she would like to direct her energies as superintendent. She is beginning, she says, “by doing my best to keep everyone informed about what is going on in the district.”

Right now, she is just trying to take everything in and evaluate where best to place her efforts, Zimmerman explained. “A lot of good work has been done, but I am trying to get the district in alignment to integrate and strengthen various systems.”

She wants staff to be “focused and intentional” about the work they are doing so she has scheduled a meeting next week with administrators and district leadership to map out a plan for the school year.

Always, she says, her first priority is student success. Providing an exceptional knowledge base is already part of Center’s mission but Zimmerman describes herself as an “essentialist,” meaning she is academically focused and believes the primary function of schools is to educate.

“Sometimes you have to push things off the plate — schools today are expected to do more than they can realistically do,” she pointed out. Zimmerman says she is committed to working closely with the community, building strong partnerships and working relationships with community members. Groups working to involve parents in school activities have already done a great deal to foster such relationships, she added.

Zimmerman said there are so many great people in Center — something she learned during her previous years as an educator at the school. “It’s an amazing place to be,” she continued. “It’s pretty exceptional and I want to focus on that.”

While she intends to concentrate on the positive, if any problems arise she will deal with them in an open and transparent way and not allow anything to impede her vision for the school, Zimmerman remarked. “I will deal with things as they come up, I’ll be transparent, and I will answer any questions honestly,” she said.

Her main objective is to “continue to do the good work of the district, work collaboratively with all parties and do the best I possibly can for everyone concerned,” she concluded.

Before taking the Center superintendent position, Zimmerman served as assistant superintendent in the Alamosa School District. She began her career in education in 1993 as a special educator. She taught special education for seven years and eventually moved into the social studies classroom at the middle school level. After 15 years in the classroom, she transitioned to administration and took on the responsibility of being the Skoglund Middle School principal in Center. She then became the assistant superintendent in the Alamosa School District. 

“I believe in shared leadership and look forward to working with the staff, school board, district leadership teams and the community to prioritize areas of focus and develop a strategic action plan to accomplish our goals,” she said.