New Edmond Schools Superintendent to Make History

Edmond Public Schools is set to make history after this school year ends.

Dr. Angela Mills Grunewald will replace the retiring Bret Towne as superintendent. In doing so, Grunewald will be the first woman to lead EPS in a non-interim role.

Grunewald said she did not realize the significance of her hiring at first. She said she simply thought of it as a job needing to be done until others started making a big deal of it.

“I received some cards from some girls in school that they had written at school and sent to me,” Grunewald said. “And it just made me realize the importance of being an example and a role model for our young girls, and that’s been heavy on my heart ever since I got that. We set the path, and people can’t be something until they can see that they can be that.”

Grunewald said she has three main areas she wants to focus on as superintendent.

The first is encouraging collaboration. She said she wants everyone to work together to make decisions about what is best for the kids. This does not only include teachers and administration, but also parents and the community.

Secondly, she wants all students to feel like they belong.

“They have a place here,” Grunewald said. “This is their family. They have connections here. Once a student has connections and feel like they belong, their likelihood of learning is much better.”

Third, she wants EPS to continue to grow. She said she wants to ensure EPS remains at the forefront of using the best instructional techniques and programs.

Grunewald is taking charge during one of the most difficult times for education in recent history. Many difficult decisions have been made, and some of them were not popular with everyone. Grunewald said she wants to redevelop trust between EPS and parents.

“We really are trying to do what is best for students,” Grunewald said. “Students are our main focus, and we want them to learn, we want them to be safe, and we want them to be emotionally healthy. That really is our priority, and every decision that we make is really focused on those priorities and those values. It’s all about students. I just feel like we have to redevelop trust in our community that we are making the decisions best for students.”

EPS began the school year with an A/B schedule. Students would physically come to school two days a week. Which days a student came were split so not everyone was in the building at once. The rest of the week featured virtual learning from home.

Following spring break, all students will return to school four days each week, with Wednesdays remaining virtual. Grunewald said everyone at EPS is excited to have the students back four days per week.

“When the CDC came out with those new guidelines, we were running up and down the halls excited because that allowed us to do that,” Grunewald said. “It has always been our desire to have students in school. We’ve never wanted to say, ‘Oh, you have to stay home today.’ We want students in school. That’s why teachers became teachers, so we were very pleased that we were able to do that and move in that direction.”

Grunewald is currently one of two associate superintendents. She oversees a department in charge of anything to do with academic content. This includes curriculum development, adopting textbooks, testing and more.

She has been with the EPS central office for five years. She had previously spent five years as Charles Haskell Elementary School principal and three years in the same role at Sequoyah Middle School. After her time as a principal, she worked in the district offices in Piedmont and Mustang before returning to Edmond.

Before transitioning to administration, Grunewald spent many years as a teacher at several schools across Oklahoma. She is originally from Woodward and graduated from Woodward High School.

Grunewald said she is the right person for the job because she loves the Edmond school district.

“I’ve worked in other districts, and there are no other districts like Edmond Public Schools,” Grunewald said. “It is just amazing. Our teachers, our principals, our families, there is no other school system like Edmond Public Schools, and I just want to take care of it and lead it. I’m passionate about Edmond schools.”