The Columbia School District is currently hoping to hire a new assistant superintendent as Alyssa Smith will be stepping away from her role at the end of the 2023-24 academic year.

Smith will be taking up the role of director of teaching and learning in the Bethalto School District.

She explained that her coming June 30 departure from Columbia isn’t due to any issues in the district. Rather, she simply hopes to take advantage of an open position that suits her interests a bit more.

“I was not looking for a new position,” Smith said. “I really didn’t have any intention of leaving Columbia. This district and community has been nothing but amazing to me since I’ve gotten here. I see the amazing potential it has moving forward and was really happy with where we were moving on things.”

Smith further commented on why she felt drawn toward the Bethalto job.

“My passion is student curriculum and professional development,” Smith said. “That is my true passion in education. While that is a part of my job as the assistant superintendent, there are also all those other managerial things that come up that you have to deal with as the assistant superintendent, and I was finding myself being pulled further away from classrooms, from students, from the curriculum to focus on those other areas that were a part of my responsibility.”

Smith started with Columbia in 2021, having previously served as director of curriculum and instruction in the East Alton Elementary School District.

Prior to that position, she acquired her bachelor’s in education from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with her reading specialist endorsement from Greenville University.

She then served as a seventh grade language arts teacher in the Alton School District for five years before moving over to East Alton for several years as a reading teacher as well as director of student services and middle school principal.

Smith spoke fondly of her experiences in Columbia over the years.

“I’m grateful for how much the community and the district welcomed me when I came three years ago, which is a lot of what makes this a very bittersweet move for me,” Smith said.

Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode offered a statement on Smith’s departure, expressing his hopes that the district faculty’s passion toward their work will help see the district through the change.

“We at Columbia CUSD 4 are sad to see Alyssa Smith depart our district,” Grode said. “She reinvigorated the conversations about essential standards and focused skills among our grade-level and departmental teams. This work will not end with her departure, and we are seeking a replacement with a timeline to provide the work with the smoothest transition.”

Smith similarly voiced her hopes for the future, noting she hopes for her last few months in the district to be productive.

“I do still have three months left in this district,” Smith said, “so I am continuing to keep the pedal to the metal when it comes to the progress we’re making and the initiatives we’re moving on with the curriculum, and I hope to work very closely with my successor on ensuring that those things continue because this district deserves that, and this district just has that potential to be amazing.”