By Tim Cleland
After 23 years in Delaware Community Schools, Mr. Chris Conley is trading his blue-and-gold wardrobe for the black-and-gold Blackhawks of Cowan Community Schools in southern Delaware County.
The longtime Delta High School principal has been named superintendent at Cowan.
Conley’s final day at Delcom is today (Monday, Aug. 19) after filling administrative roles at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. He began as assistant principal at Delta Middle School for three years, then served as principal at Albany Elementary School for six years. He moved on to assistant principal and athletic director at Delta High School for two years before becoming Delta principal in 2012.
He went on to become the longest serving principal in Delta High School history. The first principal, John Stebbins, served as principal for 10 years from 1967 through 1976. None of the next 13 principals spent more than five years in the office. Conley took over for Mr. Jim Koger in 2012 and remained in the position for more than 12 years.
“I’ve been looking for an opportunity to move into a superintendency for the last two or three years since my youngest son Evan graduated in 2021,” Conley said. “It’s just been a natural progression for me in my career and has been something I’ve been looking forward to doing.”
He said former Delcom Supt. Reece Mann provided invaluable help by including him in all aspects of the major building projects in 2018 and 2020. Those projects featured construction of a science wing, renovation of the commons and main offices, and construction of the fitness center.
“Mr. Mann very much included me in the process from the beginning, from meeting with farmers about tax rates to meeting with architects about the design to meeting with the construction people on a weekly basis,” Conley said. “Those kinds of experiences I’ve been allowed to have here, and I think those will serve me well at Cowan.”
He said when he first came to Delaware Community Schools he thought he would be here a short time and then move on to the next job. But as his own four children developed deep ties in their school activities and his wife formed strong connections in the community, his outlook changed.
“It was too valuable of a situation to give up,” he said. “Once I made that commitment to Delcom, I never really thought about going anywhere else. I thought I would finish here. I think the same way about Cowan now.”
About six months ago, he began to think the time was right to pursue a superintendent position. An opportunity then arose locally when former Cowan Supt. Timothy Brown accepted a new position as Chief Financial Officer of Hamilton Southeastern Schools this summer, creating the vacancy at Cowan.
“It is very difficult to leave the people here,” Conley said. “ I’ve been in this district for 23 years and have been in this building 14 years. There are relationships that I have formed with adults that have been tremendous and very positive for me. … But I’m going to miss the students the most. You don’t go into education – if you go into it for the right reasons – for any other reason than to help students become better.”
Becoming a superintendent will put him in less direct contact with students on a daily basis. This is an aspect of the move that concerns him as he has been in close contact with students for his entire 34-year career in education. He already plans to occasionally spend a few minutes at recess with elementary students and in the lunch room with middle and high school students.
“If you’re in a bad mood, kindergarteners on a playground will always put you in a better mood,” Conley said.
Conley’s legacy will include some major programs that were developed during his tenure. Delta became the 12th high school in the state to become a certified Early College program, and this has led to the addition of dozens of college dual-credit courses, resulting in savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars for students in college. The marching band program has been revived. A new Certified Clinical Medical Assistant program has started this year, along with a full day Preschool program.
In addition to these programs, he is most proud of the inclusion of severe and moderate special needs students into the daily culture of the school.
“We had a situation at Albany Elementary where we created a severe and moderate resource room. We had five students the first year,” he said. “You can’t work with students like that on a daily basis and not become affected by them in a positive way. It affected my son Shane because he did an internship there and now he teaches severe and moderate students here. If you see the way they are included in this building and the way all students interact with them … we’ve learned to be more compassionate, we’ve learned to be more understanding, we’ve learned that people overcome all sorts of barriers. … The impact we can have on someone else who may not be able to do it for themselves is a sign of tremendous grace on all of our parts as we help them achieve.”
All five students who started in the severe and moderate program at Albany Elementary eventually walked across the stage at graduation.
“I got them all back,” Conley said. “I was their principal for all but three or four years of their lives!”
He said this aligns with his overriding philosophy of caring about the individual person more than viewing him or her as an athlete or a band member or part of some other activity.
“The most important thing I’ve learned at Delta is that when you care about students as people first, great things can happen in a school,” he said.
Assistant principal Ms. Joey Gossett, who has served with Conley throughout his long stretch as principal, is expected to be named the new Delta principal at tonight’s school board meeting. If approved, she will become the school’s second female principal; Mrs. Jodi Gibson served as principal from 1998 to 2000.
“My wife will tell you that Ms. Gossett is the sister I never had,” Conley said, explaining that they have worked closely for more than a decade and have been able to disagree privately about situations at school but have presented a united front once a formal decision has been reached. “Ms. Gossett is a professional, she has high expectations, and she will take this building and students places you’ve never been before, far beyond what I could even dream of doing.”
