Superintendent O'Brien chosen to attend elite Thompson Leadership Institute

The Thompson Executive Leadership Institute in Texas has selected Van Vleck ISD Superintendent John O'Brien as one of 25 superintendents for their academic scholarship to attend the Superintendent Academy. This elite Academy is a Senior Executive Leadership program for school superintendents from the South and Southwest United States. 

The Thompson Executive Leadership Institute is a nationally known learning center of academies and advanced leadership training systems. The goal of the institute is for school executives to come together to test ideas, discover new concepts and information, build networks, and engage in face to face interactions with session leaders and each other.

Membership in the Academy is competitive and by invitation only.  Many more superintendents were nominated than were accepted into the Academy. Mr. O'Brien was nominated by school leaders in Texas, met a set of rigorous screening criteria, and was judged by the screening committee to have a leadership skill set that will add value to the discussions in a “think tank” of peers. 

One of the many hallmarks of the Academy is an opportunity to observe high performing, high poverty schools in New York City and to assess why they have been effective.  These field trips are taken in conjunction with study sessions at Columbia University. 

Another highlight is that the VVISD Board of Trustees will be invited to join the Academy participants at a Visioning Session featuring Ian Jukes, an internationally acclaimed expert on future trends in education.  He is also founder and Executive Director of the InfoSavvy Group, an international educational consulting firm.  

The Academy takes on key issues that make a difference in the lives of students, in the success of campuses and districts, and in the practice of educational administration. The Institute provides administrators instant access to peer networks, experts in the field, research, seminal articles, and an array of other resources for professional growth and/or problem solving.