Dr. Vaughn chosen to succeed long-time assistant superintendent of curriculum
Dr. Rondi Vaughn is a lifelong learner who has been honored by her peers as an educator and administrator both locally and at the regional level.
Having advanced through the rank and file at Poplar Bluff Schools, she has set her sights on making her mark on district-wide academic achievement for the 2025/26 school year.
Vaughn was hired as assistant superintendent of curriculum in January to succeed Patty Robertson, who has held the position for 14 years.
“Dr. Rondi Vaughn has consistently achieved great success across her various teaching and administrative leadership roles within our district,” stated Dr. Aaron Cornman, R-I superintendent. “Her proven track record, highlighted by her leadership in professional learning communities and fostering effective teaching and learning practices through the Missouri Model Districts initiative, is exceptional.”
Completed the month prior to her internal advancement, Vaughn's dissertation for her doctorate through Arkansas State University in Jonesboro unpacked why 78 percent of teachers in the public education profession are female, yet only approximately 23 percent become superintendents. Her qualitative study identified the opportunities and barriers faced by a sample group of educators in Missouri, and then she helped break the mold by joining the superintendent cabinet herself.
For the past five years, Vaughn has served as building leader of Lake Road Elementary, one of the district’s high-performing Blue Ribbon schools among other national accolades, during which time she was personally named Exemplary New Principal by the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals.
“Just being a member of an amazing school family with not a lot of turnover that puts students first, and sustaining all of the great systems—the student-centered mindset with everything our leadership teams established within our Professional Learning Community—that part I’m most proud of,” Vaughn said.
Before her principalship, Vaughn was employed for around a decade at both Oak Grove and Eugene Field, where she was named building Teacher of the Year by her peers, respectively. The majority of her tenure was spent as an interventionist. She began her teaching career at South Elementary School in Kennett in 1998.
Following her bachelor's in education from Arkansas State, she obtained dual master's degrees, the first of which was in curriculum and instruction from William Woods University in Fulton, followed by a master's in elementary administration from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.
“With a profound understanding of learning standards, curriculum design and data-driven decision-making, Dr. Vaughn will be pivotal in ensuring district-wide instruction drives high levels of student achievement,” Cornman continued. “We are confident and excited about the positive outcomes under her leadership.”
While helping to transition her successor Megan Miller at Lake Road, Vaughn was directing summer school along with "gleaning all those bits of wisdom about the systems in place and the initiatives she has championed" from Robertson for her new post. She also mentored new principals across the district last year while serving on the executive committee for the Southeast region of MAESP.
“I just want to continue to highlight that support, especially of the principals, to help them do their best, and look for opportunities to truly grow and embrace change in the face of uncertainty with the direction that the state is going,” Vaughn said. “Being a servant leader and not a top-down distributor is leaning on the strengths of the team through collaboration from all perspectives of your stakeholders. That’s when you get the best outcomes.”
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Cutline: Patty Robertson’s contract was extended over the summer to help onboard her successor, Dr. Rondi Vaughn (pictured), as the district’s next assistant superintendent of curriculum.