This story was written by Lia Salvatierra, our new Education Reporter. Find more of Lia’s reporting here. Do you have an NKY education story? Email lsalvatierra@linknky.com.
Walton-Verona Independent Schools Superintendent Dr. Dylan Smith’s new office has three distinct potted plants.
Smith joined Walton-Verona on July 1 from Oldham County Schools, where he served as assistant superintendent for student learning since 2020.
On Friday, Smith motioned to a cluster of healthy heart-shaped leaves in a ceramic blue pot. He rescued the plant during his tenure as North Oldham Middle School principal, where he took his first job in Kentucky.
Another pot is home to a three-foot-tall cactus — a gift that once reached the ceiling of his assistant superintendent’s office at Oldham County Schools.
“When it reached the ceiling, I knew it was time to retire,” Smith laughed.
The third and only potted pet on Smith’s desk is a multicolored inch plant he’s had since his first teaching job in 2005.
Offshoots of the houseplant live in every district he’s worked in, having gifted clippings to colleagues over the years.
Smith said his gardening hobby demands patience and consistency not unlike what he’s brought to his more than two decades in education.
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He described how it took him years to figure out how to make his orchids bloom all year.
It’s a process similar to finding ways to meet the different needs of students and teachers, he said.
“It’s through consistency and being very intentional and understanding and responding to what they need, and being patient as they go through their process,” he said.
Despite his knack for education, Smith encountered the field by accident.
He was working a day job in international marketing in Seattle, when he started volunteering as a homework helper at a local public library.
“It was the only thing I talked about with my friends,” Smith told LINK nky.
When they asked him why he wasn’t in a career working closely with kids, “My answer was ‘I don’t know,’” he said.
So he pivoted, and applied to Teach for America which landed him his first job teaching ancient Asian history to middle schoolers in New York City.
And once he was in, he pursued multiple graduate degrees and roles in education taking him back home to the Bay Area, Washington State and New Orleans.
He arrived in Kentucky for his first job at Oldham County Schools in 2018.
Smith saw the opening at Walton-Verona earlier this year, around the same time he wrapped up some of the key initiatives he started at Oldham.
The first thing he did was drive up to attend a school board meeting, where he observed strong collaboration.
“A school board that works well together is a true gift,” Smith said.
After researching the district carefully, he felt its needs aligned with what he had to offer.
He noted the district’s focus on ensuring students are well prepared to advance from one school year to the next.
Some things he’s personally always eager to work on are creating a really engaging curriculum for students and diving into data to make decisions.
But as a rule, Smith believes a superintendent should listen twice as much as they speak.
During his first month he introduced himself through videos filmed for the community.
While in town during the Memorial Day Parade, Smith said multiple people stopped him, recognizing his face from those digital introductions.
Once school starts, he plans to meet more students and teachers by visiting every classroom in the district.
His guiding question is always how the district can get a little better each day.
“That is no different than watching a seed grow into a plant,” he said.
LINK nky’s education reporting is made possible by support from Report for America, EducateNKY, Greater Cincinnati Foundation and the R.C. Durr Foundation. To help LINK nky continue to provide this kind of reporting, you can make a tax-deductible donation here.
