Southmoreland Superintendent Dr. John Molnar recently announced his retirement as of June 30. Dr. Molnar has worked with the school for 25 years and said he believes he has done everything he can to make this school an ideal place for learning.

“I find myself challenged by the warm feelings about the 25 years of work in the Southmoreland School district,” he explained of his feelings of retirement.

“I am most proud of our ability to increase rigor and achievement. This process started before I arrived here,” said Dr. Molnar. The superintendent said he hopes he has been able to fuel the students and staff to work harder. The students attending the school have achieved many goals in recent years, he said.

There are multiple things that he feels connected to, but his major attachment has to do with the talented students at the school.

“My biggest attachment to this school would be the kids,” said Dr. Molnar. “I feel as though we have some of the most amazing kids here.”

Not many people are anxious to leave their position when they love their job. Dr. Molnar said he will most definitely miss his position at Southmoreland.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” he said. “I will miss a lot of what goes on around here. I will not miss deciding snow days. It will be really nice to spend time with my 1 and 4 year old grandchildren.”

As far as the academic climate at Southmoreland, Dr. Molnar said that “It has become more positive. I give credit to the staff and faculty for all the hard work they put in. This has become a student-centered district, and we are very focused on our learning.”

Dr. Molnar said that once his successor is selected, he “will begin working closely with them making sure they know how we run things around here. I want to make sure that our progress is upheld after I am gone. I also would like to finish everything I started so that I am not leaving the next superintendent with my work. I want to insure that the proper security measures are also taking before I depart from this school, and I want to make sure the students here are safe and protected.”

As for his future, Dr. Molnar said he would “like to get into some pleasure reading, traveling, and getting out into the outdoors.”

The road to being superintendent wasn’t easy, but Dr. Molnar is glad he took the path that led to Southmoreland.

“I wanted to be a teacher, and after several years I was furloughed,” he said. “I got into some private industry business and then I was recalled, so I decided to go for a school administrative position. I wanted to work with kids, and I also felt that I could lead the staff in the right direction, as well as the students here.”

The school district performance scores have risen steadily throughout Dr. Molnar’s tenure.