Having been an English teacher, principal and superintendent, Robert Hunt has seen education from all angles. Working in districts across Ohio and Illinois during his 29 years in the field, Hunt is armed with expertise for his role in Upper Arlington.
Opportunity knocks
When he started college, education wasn’t what Hunt had in mind for a career path. He enrolled at the University of Dayton as a criminal justice major, planning to attend law school, then join the FBI.
“They believed strongly that you needed to get out in the field, and I did kind of a ride along with police officers and determined that it looks way more cool on TV,” Hunt says. “Then I started to reflect and think about ‘Where do I want to spend my time and what’s my calling.’ It was always teachers in my life who made a difference and had a huge impact on keeping me moving in the right direction. And I thought ‘If I could do that and be that for young people, what a great career.’”
He transferred to Kent State and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in December 1996. He took his first teaching position five miles from his hometown of Bainbridge at Kenston Local School District as a middle school English teacher.
He spent seven years there, working his way up from team leader to athletic director, ultimately earning the position of assistant principal while he was finishing up his master’s degree in educational administration from Ursuline College.
By Ray LaVoie.
At only 28 years old, he was hired as assistant principal at Chagrin Falls High School after being interviewed for the middle school principal position.
He stayed in Chagrin Falls for almost 10 years as a high school principal and assistant superintendent before becoming superintendent of Streetsboro City Schools for a year and earning the district its first “excellent” rating from the state of Ohio. He returned to Chagrin Falls from 2012-2021, this time as superintendent, and earned a Ph.D. in education administration from Kent State University in June 2019.
Before coming to UA, Hunt served as the superintendent of Barrington 220 School District in Chicago, Illinois for two years. A year and a half in, he got the call that UA was looking for a new superintendent.
“When I was in Chagrin, I was on a variety of committees and tried very hard to have a voice at the state level about education and the direction it needed to go. And proximity matters. … They want to pick up the phone and have a cup of coffee to understand how something may impact you at the school level. You can’t do it from Cleveland. And the opportunity to be here (in Columbus) and be engaged has always been appealing to me,” Hunt says.
“Honestly, I don’t know that there would be another school district in the state of Ohio I would’ve put my family through this number of transitions (for).” Hunt says.
Feeling at home in Arlington
Hunt knew moving his family again wouldn’t be easy, but the opportunity ended up being the right choice and he felt energized coming into the UA position.
Hunt visits students at Winderemere Elementary. Courtesy of Upper Arlington City Schools.
“The timing I came in was very exciting because a lot was accomplished over the last seven, eight years, from facilities to a variety of different things,” he says. “And there’s an expectation and anticipation about what’s next. So (I went) right into building relationships, and now we’re looking into what our future is going to look like. We’re launching into strategic planning, and to be in a place that has embraced that in the past, has had success in going through that process, and is eager to do it again, is truly an opportunity.”
Karen Truett, chief communications officer of Upper Arlington Schools, says that some top district administrators were leaving to retire or become superintendents, so Hunt got to craft a team alongside experienced administrators. They have been focused on listening and understanding before moving forward with change.
He has been able to tour each school in his “UA Adventure,” where he met with teachers and students and saw them in action. Now, his focus is on “UA Adventure 2.0” since he knows the ropes and can be more open and have more informal conversations with students and staff.
Family first
Hunt has four kids, whom he calls the bigs and the littles. His oldest daughter, Ashton, graduated from the University of Dayton last year and is now an English teacher at Worthington Kilbourne High School. His oldest son, Braden, is a sophomore and competitive runner at Kent State University studying entrepreneurship.
The littles are students at Greensview Elementary, where Emerson is a fourth-grader and Hawken is in second grade.
Hawken plays football and earned the nickname “fighter” after his battle with cancer when he was younger. Emerson, with curly hair and a knack for taking over a room, bears the nickname “tornado” and shows interest in fashion and choir. Both play soccer and basketball.
“Honestly, I don’t know that there would be another school district in the state of Ohio I would’ve put my family through this number of transitions (for),” Hunt says. “Looking at what it offers to our kids … from interventions if there’s any kind of educational struggles to clubs and activities and sports and course offerings. This is a place where my kids have every chance to be successful.”
His wife Shannon, a long-time English teacher, is an instructional coach for the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio. She has worked in neighboring school districts over the years and now works for various districts from their home in Upper Arlington.
Learning from experience
Hunt’s first job was as a “professional dishwasher” at a country club in his hometown before he began high school.
During college, he started a painting company with his friend, turning their summer jobs into a successful business that paid the bills while he went to school. He jokes that his first teaching job was a pay cut after he gave up the painting business.
He and a friend flipped houses, buying properties in the spring to renovate over the summer, then sell or rent them out. Home renovation is now one of his hobbies, and he loves DIY projects around the house.
“I think I realized, in those experiences, there are multiple paths where people are going to go and our job is to help them find their passion, and hopefully send them on their way to be successful,” he says.
WEB EXCLUSIVE:
For three years of his childhood, Hunt and his family lived in Iran for his dad’s overseas assignment. Hunt remembers being relocated two weeks before the American hostages were taken during the overthrow of the Shah.
“They put a curfew out, the military went out at night. There were a few things that kind of stick in your brain as a young person,” Hunt says. “But, I also remember that, when we came out, we were sent to Hawaii, because they weren’t sure if we were going to go back in… I think there’s this sense of appreciation of freedom that we have. And I can’t point to why, but maybe a little more because of that experience.”
Recent Accolades
AASA Ohio Superintendent of the Year, 2020
Ohio Superintendent Outstanding Performance Award, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, 2020
Ohio Superintendent Professional Learning Academy, 2019
Jane Dimel is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
