Dr. Smith: The New Principal of CVHS

By Lexie Kauffman ‘22

Dr. Michael Smith became the principal of Conestoga Valley High School on Thursday, October 1, 2020. However, before CVHS, he worked at many schools across the country, including Sierra Vista Junior High in California, and several schools in Maryland including Marley Middle School, South River High School, and Glen Burnie High School. Locally, he served for twelve years in the Warwick School District, at both Warwick Middle School and High School, and was also most recently a principal at Columbia High School.

Even with that extensive resume, Smith did not always know he wanted to be a teacher. Smith explained that his journey to becoming a principal started as a way to honor his late mother.

“When I first started out and got into education, my mother was a nurse and always helped people” Smith described. “Unfortunately, she passed away when I was 21. That kind of changed the direction of my life. I really wanted to honor her and help people, and I knew that I was not interested in becoming a nurse. I had always coached and taught swim lessons when I was younger, so it was kind of a natural transition that I decided to become a teacher at that point.”

“Over time, as I taught for several years and gained some leadership experience with sports, it was, again, another natural transition to a bigger role to be able to lead people and students,” Smith explained. “Now, it’s fifteen years that I’ve been doing this.”

When he was in school, his favorite subjects were science and math, shaping his decisions to major in Earth and Space Science.

“My original degree is in Earth and Space Science from Penn State with a focus on cartography, which is computer mapmaking,” Smith explained. While Smith loves science, he is also very musically inclined.

“I am a big music lover,” Smith commented. “I play an instrument called the mandolin, it’s a string instrument.”

Smith also mentioned his wife of 20 years, Kelly, who works as a social worker. They have two children together. Dylan, 16, and Olivia, 14, both of whom attend Manheim Central and play soccer. According to Smith, their family loves soccer and supports Manchester United. Smith also has a twin sister named Michelle.

When asked about his first impression of Conestoga Valley, Smith replied that it was “great!” He specifically mentioned the community and positively that he immediately felt when he first started the interview process for his position. Smith plans to build on that community foundation to create strong relationships within the school.

“The biggest thing for me, right now, is building relationships and trying to get to know teachers, trying to get to know staff and students, and the community and the parents as well,” he commented. “That’s the number one thing for me: how do I build relationships?”

Since joining CVHS, Smith has already begun connecting with students.

“Even though it’s only day four, there’ve been numerous events that I’ve attended,” Smith remarked. “I think just being present for some of those is important. I was able to attend National Honors Society Induction and I’ve been to most sporting events so far from Girls Volleyball to Boys and Girls Soccer to football games. I think that’s a good start. I’ve also been going in and out of classrooms in the first couple days to introduce myself. It’s also sometimes luck of the draw. I happened to walk into the auditorium the other day and Student Council was meeting, so I was able to introduce myself to them.”

Smith also mentioned that he plans to continue Mr. Thornton’s tradition of having a Principal’s Council, regular meetings with the class officers. Smith said that he will always be willing to work with his students.

“Over time, it’s kind of having an open-door policy,” Smith said. “If students need to see me, I will always be there; I’ll always make time.”

In the words of one of Smith’s favorite books, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss, “Your mountain is waiting. So, get on your way!”

Dr. Smith’s principalship marks the start of a new chapter in CVHS history.