Marion City Schools recently chose TED speaker Mrs. Olympia Della Flora to be our new superintendent. She will officially be taking over from our current interim superintendent, Mr. Mazzi, on August 1st, 2023, but the exchange of power might come early. Because Della Flora was hired internally, as she has been our assistant superintendent since August, she will be able to start working as superintendent as soon as someone else can fill her current position.
Mrs. Della Flora is excited for her upcoming role in the school district, though regretful that she won’t be working as closely with students as she has in the past. Before coming to Marion, she has been a teacher, a principal, and an assistant superintendent while working in education. Della Flora has worked in a multitude of places, including at schools in Columbus, Ohio, and Connecticut, and she’s been to schools in France, China, Chile, and the Dominican Republic as either a student or an educator.
Della Flora’s experiences from other countries and cultures has helped her gain a new understanding of students, especially those whose first language is not English. “I feel like I've been in people’s shoes when they maybe can’t communicate because of language, or they feel like they don’t fit in,” she says. This understanding helps Della Flora to connect with both students and parents, making them feel welcome within the school system.
Something she is excited to accomplish in the future is working more closely with teachers and bringing them closer with administration. “I’m really looking forward to building those relationships with the teachers and trying to work with them [to] get to a common goal!” Della Flora’s time as a teacher and principal has helped her better understand what they need from her as a superintendent, and she intends to provide educators with as much support as possible to make the school a better place for everyone- especially students.
Communication with everyone is key for good changes, such as bringing down rates of drug and substance abuse among students, to take place. Della Flora is very open to hear what staff and students have to say, and wants there to be more opportunities for students to voice their ideas and opinions. “I’ve learned that sometimes the kids have…a lot of great ideas, but we never actually get to sit down and get those ideas from them,” she states. In the future, Della Flora hopes to work with students and staff to combat substance abuse, drug addictions, and poor mental health within Marion City Schools.
When asked if working in education was what she always wanted to do, Della Flora replies, “Nope.” She never thought she would become a schoolteacher, following in her mother’s footsteps. She has tried many different career paths, including engineering, pre-medicine, and even biology. “I now think I was meant to be an educator,” Della Flora says, noting that none of the previous career paths worked for her interests. She earned a degree in elementary education and became an elementary school teacher. Eventually, her desire to help more students drove her to become a principal, and that same desire spurred her on to apply for the position of assistant superintendent, and now superintendent. Della Flora remarks, “That is our legacy in life: the lives you’re able to touch, the lives you’re able to change.” Please give Mrs. Della Flora a warm welcome as she takes the reins as MCS’ new superintendent!