CREEDE — The Creede School District Board of Education recently announced the hiring of Susan Birdsey as its new superintendent.

She replaces Keith Crispell, who was tabbed to be the next Prentice School District administrator in Wisconsin. PSD made its hire public in early April.

Having lived in the Creede area for several years and owning the Ramble House, Birdsey says she is more than excited to get back to her educational roots and is looking forward to serving the district and community of Creede.

“I worked for the district for about 10 years before moving on and securing an administrative background in education. I am really excited to be coming back home and to serving the community I have grown to love,” she said.

Birdsey spent the first half of her educational career in Creede before moving on to Rifle where she worked as principal. After 10 years in Rifle, Birdsey then moved on to serve as interim principal for a district in Grand Junction where she will finish out the school year before heading back to Creede.

“I really enjoyed bringing my experience from a small school district like Creede to the larger districts. It afforded me the ability to be well informed on several educational areas and gave me a unique perspective that I was able to use while pursuing my administrative experience,” said Birdsey.

During her time at the Creede District, Birdsey did what many of the teachers and staff do at the school and taught several topics and classes. From journalism and English language arts to high school Spanish, Birdsey speaks about her time with enthusiasm and excitement.

“I really enjoyed working for the district and look forward to doing so again,” she said.

Birdsey comes to her new position with an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas El Paso, a bachelor’s in Education, a master’s in Educational Leadership, and a doctorate in Education from Walden University.

Birdsey starts with the Creede School District in July and for the first year is looking forward to getting to know the students, teachers and staff.

“My first goal is to just watch and learn. Things and people have changed since I last taught in this district and I want the opportunity to learn before I commit to any changes big or small,” explained Birdsey. “I want to show respect for the district and learn, build relationships and figure out what the district needs.”

In addition to getting to know the district, Birdsey also plans on working with the community of Creede and to have public discussion pertaining to topics like enrollment.

“Every district has discussions on how to increase enrollment. Just like in other communities, enrollment should be a community discussion because it involves so much more than just bringing in new students. You have to talk about housing, transportation and the things that make your district a place where parents want to send their students,” she said.

Birdsey is excited to start her new position and is also looking forward to coming home to family.

“I am excited to come back to where I began my educational career and to be home with family,” she said.