Ritenour School District, St. Louis, MO - Superintendent

Position Description for Ritenour School District, St. Louis, Missouri

The Ritenour School District Board of Education is seeking a visionary and passionate superintendent, dedicated to inspiring excellence and equity for every student. As a cornerstone of a deeply diverse, proud, and community-rooted district, Ritenour is poised for transformative growth. This job posting reflects the collective aspirations of our Board of Education, staff, community, and students—each eager to welcome a leader who will elevate Ritenour’s legacy and shape its future.

The Superintendent serves as the district's chief executive and instructional leader and is responsible for advancing student achievement, strengthening organizational effectiveness, building community trust, and ensuring every student has access to opportunity, support, and belonging.

Ritenour seeks a visible, relational, courageous, and instructionally credible leader who understands that Ritenour is more than a school system—it is a community. The successful candidate will honor the district’s history and strengths while leading thoughtful, evidence-based change that prepares every student for success in college, career, and life.

McPherson & Jacobson, L.L.C., Executive Recruitment and Development, has been engaged as   the consultant in a search for outstanding candidates and will assist the School Board in identifying and screening the candidates.

Apply online at: www.macnjake.com

Enrollment: 6,600 Students

Location: St. Louis, Missouri. The Ritenour School District is located in a diverse, established suburban area of Northwest St. Louis County, Missouri, encompassing nine distinct municipalities known for strong community support and cultural/socioeconomic diversity.

Communities within the district include Breckenridge Hills, Edmundson, Overland, Sycamore Hills, Woodson Terrace, Charlack, St. Ann, St. John, and Vinita Park.

Salary: Regionally competitive salary commensurate with experience and qualifications

Key Responsibilities

The Superintendent will:

• Lead with a deep commitment to students, ensuring their academic, social, emotional, and developmental needs remain at the center of district decisions. 
• Be visible and present, building authentic relationships with students, staff, families, Board members, and community partners. 
• Strengthen teaching and learning through clear instructional priorities, high expectations, effective use of data, and evidence-based practices.
• Advance equity and belonging, ensuring that every student—including multilingual learners, students requiring additional support, and high-achieving students—has meaningful access to opportunity.
• Build trust through transparent and consistent communication, creating authentic two-way engagement with the Ritenour community.
• Lead courageously and hold people accountable, addressing difficult issues directly while maintaining fairness, empathy, and respect.
• Strengthen organizational coherence and effectiveness, aligning people, resources, systems, and priorities around measurable outcomes.
• Develop and retain excellent staff and leaders while fostering a culture of collaboration, professional growth, accountability, and well-being.
• Engage and unite a diverse community, honoring different perspectives while building shared ownership of the district’s future.
• Lead thoughtful innovation and change, balancing Ritenour’s traditions and strengths with the need to prepare students for a rapidly changing world.
• Strengthen partnerships and advocate for the district, working with families, municipalities, businesses, community organizations, and other partners to expand opportunities and resources for students.
• Maintain fiscal stewardship and organizational sustainability, ensuring resources are aligned with the district’s highest priorities and student needs.
• Collaborate effectively with the Board of Education, establishing a relationship grounded in trust, clear roles, transparency, and shared commitment to students.

Desired Qualifications and Leadership Characteristics

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• A strong record of improving student achievement and organizational outcomes.
• A long term-commitment to Ritenour, demonstrating forward-thinking, focused on student achievement and growth.
• Significant experience as an instructional and organizational leader.
• Demonstrated success leading complex, diverse school communities.
• Strong knowledge of teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment, and continuous improvement, including a comprehensive understanding of curriculum design, alignment, and evaluation across grade levels; an understanding of Competency-Based Education (CBE) is strongly preferred.
• Experience leading organizational change while building trust and maintaining stability.
• Exceptional communication, relationship-building, and conflict-resolution skills.
• A demonstrated commitment to equity, cultural responsiveness, and inclusion.
• The courage to make difficult decisions and the humility to listen, learn, and adjust.
• Strong strategic, systems-thinking, and problem-solving abilities.
• Experience developing leaders, strengthening teams, and building organizational capacity.
• A demonstrated ability to engage students and authentically incorporate student voice into decision-making.
• The ability to balance compassion with accountability, tradition with innovation, and stability with progress.
• Personal integrity, authenticity, emotional intelligence, resilience, and a genuine commitment to children and community.

The Ritenour Leadership Imperative

The next Superintendent must be a leader who will:

Know us. Understand Ritenour’s history, culture, strengths, challenges, and aspirations.

See us. Be present, accessible, and attentive to the people and places that make Ritenour unique.

Listen to us. Value the voices of students, staff, families, Board members, and community partners.

Believe in us. Hold high expectations for every student and adult while providing the conditions and support necessary for success.

Lead us. Bring the courage, clarity, expertise, humility, and vision necessary to move Ritenour forward.

Above all, Ritenour seeks a superintendent who will treat this work as something that truly matters—a leader who cares deeply about students, schools, and community and whose leadership makes people believe that they matter, too.

Search Timeline:

• Closing date for applications: November 9, 2026
• Candidates presented to School Board: November 12, 2026
• School Board Selects Semi-Finalists to interview: November 30, 2026-December 3, 2026
• Finalist Interview with the School Board: December 4-10, 2026
• Selection of new Superintendent: by December 18, 2026
• New Superintendent Announced: January 4, 2026
• Superintendent Start Date: July 1, 2027

Contact information:

McPherson & Jacobson, L.L.C.

11725 Arbor Street, Suite 220

Omaha, NE 68144

888-375-4814

Email: apps@macnjake.com

School Website:                     https://www.ritenourschools.org/

Consultants:  

Dr. David Ulrich                               D_Ulrich@macnjake.com

Dr. Sharonica Hardin-Bartley         S_Hardin@macnjake.com

The Ritenour School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), ancestry, national origin, place of birth, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, political affiliation or marital status in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its programs and activities. Anyone requesting  reasonable accommodation in the application or recruitment process please contact McPherson & Jacobson at the address/phone/email above.