Matthew “Matt” Burrows, Ed.D., was appointed Superintendent of the Appoquinimink School District in July 2011. He has the distinction of being one of the youngest educational leaders ever chosen to serve in the role in the State of Delaware.
Dr. Burrows began his career as a social studies teacher, and has experienced the challenges and opportunities associated with working as a teacher and administrator in urban, suburban, and rural settings – at the elementary and secondary level.
Twelve years into the role, he’s led the state’s fastest-growing school district through a successful 10-year, facility master plan process and the successful passage of four education referendums – including a $268 million effort that represents the single largest investment in new school construction ever made in the State of Delaware, and a December 2021 “No Tax-Impact Referendum” to rebuild a historically significant secondary school that passed with a 96% approval rating.
In Fall 2021, Dr. Burrows presided over the opening of two new schools, broke ground on PK-12 campus, presided over a beam-raising ceremony for a middle school reconstruction project, and celebrated the grand re-opening of an elementary school that doubled in size. He is currently overseeing Appoquinimink School District’s next long-range strategic plan, Vision 2026: A Call to Action, and looks forward to opening more new facilities in Fall 2023 and Fall 2025.
Dr. Burrows has served Delaware as President of the Chief School Officers Association (2017) and chair of Delaware’s ESSA Committee (2017). In 2018, in recognition of all that he had accomplished, he was elected by his peers as Delaware’s 2018 Superintendent of the Year. In January 2022, he was elected to the Executive Board of the AASA, the School Superintendent’s Association.
During Burrows’ tenure, education ranking service Niche has recognized Appoquinimink six times as Delaware’s Top School District (2017- 2020 and 2022-2023), national blue-ribbon status has been awarded to two elementary schools, and the Appoquinimink School District has been an eight-time national honoree (2016-23) as one of “America’s Best Communities for Music Education.”
In demand as a guest speaker at business roundtables and collegiate conferences, he is a champion of the national effort to identify workforce needs and provide career-related linkages for students within the context of a comprehensive public-school setting.
Past AASA Delaware Superintendent of the Year Winners:
2022 Delaware Superintendent of the Year: Robert Fulton
2022 Delaware Superintendent of the Year: Dr. Dan Shelton
2021 Delaware Superintendent of the Year: Kevin Fitzgerald
About the Award:
The Superintendent of the Year program, sponsored by First Student and AASA, pays tribute to the talent and vision of the men and women who lead the nation’s public schools.
State-level winners are selected on the following criteria:
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- Leadership for Learning
- Communication
- Professionalism
- Community Involvement