Board takes on top task

Muskego - The Muskego School Board met in closed session Monday to debate how to go about replacing Superintendent of Schools Joe Schroeder.

Schroeder will leave at the end of June to become associate executive director of the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators. In that new capacity, he will help raise the professional education of school leaders across Wisconsin.

Board President Jim Schaefer said he anticipates being able to find a successor to take over as of July 1, with perhaps enough time beforehand for Schroeder and his successor to work together before his final day.

Given a high grade

"I'm going to miss him," Schaefer admitted. "He has helped us raise our level of expectations and that will be his legacy to our community."

In Schroeder's five years as superintendent, "He has helped create a culture of continuous improvement in Muskego-Norway Schools that will carry on long beyond his time here," Schaefer said.

Schroeder has set the bar high, Schaefer said, and it's up to the board and staff to continue the task of supporting student learning, growth and success.

While striving to meet that goal, Schroeder led Muskego-Norway to winning a 2010 Wisconsin Forward Mastery Level Award, only the third kindergarten-through-12th-grade district to ever receive that distinction in the history of the statewide organizational quality program.

The district also had the highest-ever ACT college entrance examination performance alongside highest-ever ACT participation and a graduation rate of nearly 98 percent. In addition, Muskego High School was named one of America's Best High Schools 2010 by Newsweek magazine.

A positive experience

In the press release announcing his appointment, Schroeder called his work in Muskego-Norway a labor of love, enriched "by wonderful relationships and strong results for our combined efforts."

And he sees continued success for the district.

"Given the caliber and commitments of our staff and board, I am confident that the best days of Muskego-Norway will continue far past my time in the district," he wrote.

The Association of Wisconsin School Administrators is the same statewide organization that named Schroeder Wisconsin Superintendent of the Year in 2010.

Before coming to Muskego-Norway, Schroeder was assistant superintendent in the Elmbrook School District after serving as principal of Brookfield East High School. Before that, he served as a teacher and administrator in several other districts.