“Successes & Challenges in Public Education in the Verde Valley”

Dennis Dearden is the Superintendent of the Sedona-Oak Creek School District and also serves as the Principal of Sedona Red Rock High School. Previously, he was the Superintendent of the Marana School District and Casa Grande Union High School District in Arizona.

Dearden has served as the Cluster I assistant superintendent for Fairfax County Schools in Virginia, where he was responsible for 22 schools and nearly 20,000 students near Washington, D.C.  All 22 schools in Cluster I earned full state accreditation, and the three high schools were included in the 2005 Newsweek top 100 high schools in the nation. He is a former classroom teacher and author of the book Monkey Business for Leaders at All Levels.

Steve King is the Superintendent of the Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District. This is King’s 26th year in education as a homegrown Arizona educator. As a Breakthrough Coach trained Superintendent, he has been empowered to put the “focus on the focus” for ensuring that strong classroom instructional strategies are being implemented by spending time in classrooms, coaching teachers and building positive relationships with students. 

Steve has a passion for creating educational environments that support the whole child with a strong focus on providing social-emotional supports for children with traumatic backgrounds and intrinsic special needs.

This program is free and everyone is welcome. To register for the event, visit www.lwvnaz.org under Upcoming Events.  If you have problems with registering, please send an email to lwvnaz@gmail.com.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization dedicated to public service in the field of government. It is a national organization – open to people of all genders – whose purpose is to encourage political responsibility