Biography:

Starting her career in 1991 as a high school English teacher, Dr. Janet Vinson has served the students of Broken Arrow since July 2010. In her tenure, she has served as the executive director of curriculum, chief academic officer, associate superintendent of instruction and now as superintendent of schools.

During her time leading the instructional division, she facilitated a districtwide literacy initiative resulting in significant gains in elementary literacy achievement recognized by the National Reading Recovery Council. The literacy initiative set the groundwork for Broken Arrow Public Schools’ mantra of “100 percent Literacy, Engagement, Graduation” which serves as a goal for every student, educator and staff member in the district.

In her first few years as superintendent, she established the four Core Values to emphasize a family-centered school culture. They focus on individual responsibility to serve students, district and community through respectful relationships while maintaining a passion for learning.

Under her leadership, the district completed a three-and-a-half-year process involving hundreds of community members to reconfigure Broken Arrow High School, the largest high school in the state, in a way that is innovative and re-imagines what high school should be in the twenty-first century. BA Pathways is a multi-year plan to enable students to explore careers early and begin a pathway to a career through early college, early career tech and/or early trade apprenticeships, culminating in careers that allow students to be life ready.

Under her leadership, Broken Arrow Public Schools joined forces with Tulsa Community College and Northeastern State University to build concurrent associate degree programs, allowing high school students to graduate high school and earn an associate’s degree simultaneously, with little to no cost to parents. Likewise, in 2018, BA Schools collaborated with Mullin Plumbing to create the first plumbing apprenticeship partnership whereby students work in paid apprenticeships and may earn a journeyman license upon graduation. This has expanded to over thirty career pathways for the 2019-2020 school year.

She represents the state of Oklahoma on the National College Board Advisory Committee and the National SAT Suite Advisory Committee. For two years, she has served as a member of the American Association of School Administrators’ Redefining Ready Cohort, a nation-wide cohort of school administrators redefining what high school should be in the twenty-first century. In addition, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister selected her in 2017 to serve on her State Superintendent Advisory Council. Since 2016, she has served on the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators and the United Suburban Schools Association legislative agenda committees.

In 2016, Dr. Vinson was named as the Oklahoma Assistant Superintendent of the Year by the Cooperative Council of Oklahoma School Administrators and the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators. In 2017, she received the Women’s Community Impact Award by the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce, and in 2019 was selected as the Citizen of the Year by the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce.

Day 2:

Breakout and Peer to Peer Session: After the Storm Leadership Panel: Recovering Schools After Tragedy & Disaster