New Albany-Plain Local Schools Superintendent April Domine’s career has taken her all over the country and through a myriad of different positions – but the common denominator has always been her mission to improve the educational system from within.
“I think the strongest pull for me to be in education was my brother, who was very bright, but struggled (in the classroom),” says Domine, who was born in Florida and raised in Wadsworth, Ohio. She went to high school in Centerville outside Dayton. “It inspired me to want to be part of shaping education so that it really reached every single student.”
That drive took her to Kent State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in special education – perhaps not an unusual start for a future superintendent. But how she funded her undergrad degree might be a surprise.
“I went to school on a musical theater scholarship,” Domine says. “My very first job I had was teaching music in Northridge (Local) Schools in Dayton.
“I taught a unit at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton for two years where I worked as part of a multidisciplinary team of mental health specialists and occupational therapists. I was the special ed therapist for young children who had emotional and behavioral difficulties and developmental delays that could not be served in public school kindergarten – and I really believed that was what I was going to do my entire life. Of all the positions I’ve held in teaching, that was the most energizing and impactful for me.”
After moving to central Ohio almost 20 years ago, Domine held teaching positions in the Olentangy and Hilliard school districts before she moved into administrative positions. Her first superintendency was for Big Walnut Local Schools, followed by a remote position in Houston with Battelle for Kids, working Monday through Thursday and flying back to Columbus on Thursday nights to be with her husband, David, and children, Anthony and Gianna, now
25 and 24, respectively.
Along the way, she earned a masters from Ashland University – and recently earned her doctorate in education from Vanderbilt University.
In 2010, Domine was approached by the search committee for the New Albany-Plain Local Schools superintendency. The timing felt right for her to move closer to her roots in the classroom, she says.
“In my heart, I missed that direct connection with kids every day and being able to see what teachers were doing in classrooms every day, … being part of the life of a community,” Domine says.
Not only that, New Albany was the right place for that return. The district’s new vision statement – developed through a community-wide strategic planning process – told her all she needed to know.
“Our vision: to become the leader in reinventing education.”
“When I read that, I knew I had to be here because that was exactly how I had lived my life from the very beginning of my interest in teaching – (asking) how could I be part of the generation, that might, in fact be part of reinventing public education,” Domine says. “So when I saw that vision statement in writing, I said, ‘This is the place to be and to be part of building that future.’”
Since she accepted the role in January 2011, the New Albany community has experienced a series of tragedies – including the deaths of two New Albany High School grads in August 2011, a student’s suicide in September of that same year and two more teen deaths in 2012.
With the goal of preventing further tragedies and promoting wellness of all types, the district has launched several new programs targeted at improving school culture, addressing issues such as dating violence, bullying and overall mental health – especially at the high school level.
“It’s important to me that the community knows that we’re looking at all these facets of mental, social, emotional and physical health,” Domine says.
“We are literally reinventing what it means to introduce these concepts to students – to give them these options, to build better social awareness, to build a culture that’s more inclusive, that has a stronger sense of belonging, and that understands what it means to be children and people who have well-being. We know that we have a lot of work to do, but as a community, together, … we really can build a culture that does those things.”
So far, the programs, such as the Signs of Suicide program now in place at New Albany High School (created in partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital) have been effective, Domine believes.
“We’ve been very grateful to them for their partnership and collaboration with us on several different levels. We have new, fast-paced systems of response … where we can have direct access to doctors and psychologists from Children’s when students are in crisis,” she says. “We have seen an increase in referrals for mental health support, which we view as a good metric.”
Like the health of New Albany students and staff, Domine views her own health as a matter of balance – and she admits it’s easy for her equilibrium to get thrown off.
“It’s one of my greatest areas of weakness,” she says. “Just like it’s so critical for staff and students, it’s easy to let the demands of work and just how much there is to do to take over your exercise. So if I’m brutally honest, I still struggle with that.”
At a minimum, Domine must do the resistance exercises that are part of the physical therapy for her recent hip replacement from Joint Implant Surgeons. Several injuries, beginning in her 20s, began to take their toll and she developed arthritis in her left hip to the point that, before her surgery, she had to use a cane.
“Until you can’t walk, it’s something you take for granted every day, just being able to jump up and walk wherever you need to go,” Domine says. “I’m so grateful (now) that I can get up in the morning and walk. I can walk all day. I can walk across the campus now, and three months ago I couldn’t do that. I think something like that has to almost happen to you to make you really thankful for what a blessing it is to be able to get up and walk every day.”
Her current exercise, when she finds the time to do it, is mostly just that – walking. But she is looking forward to starting Zumba again once she is recovered enough.
Domine’s other interests include cooking and gourmet cuisine. She’s still an avid fan of musical theater.
“My favorite thing to do would be to go to New York and see six shows in three days,” she says.
There’s still a lot to be done to address wellness at the district level, Domine says. One of the things the district is working on is developing a set of expectations, attitudes and common language for addressing wellness at all grade levels.
“We want our students to leave us with that very holistic vision of their own health. We want them to be active participants in the learning – and that is the future of education,” she says.
Lisa Aurand is editor of Healthy New Albany Magazine. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
