John R. Wink
John Wink currently serves as the Director of School Success for the Longview Independent School District in Longview, TX. As a renowned superintendent, assistant superintendent and principal at elementary, middle and high schools, John's work in school improvement has transformed schools by transforming teachers and leaders. As superintendent of Carthage ISD in Carthage, Texas, his schools saw tremendous gains in student achievement. As superintendent of Blue Ridge ISD (2016 - 2019), John's work from his books elevated district performance from a C rated district to an A rated district in just 2 years. Prior to that, John served as the assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the Tatum Independent School District in Tatum, Texas where distinctions rose from 2 to 10 in 1 year. As principal of Gilmer Elementary School (2011-2014), he led the school through school-improvement status to earn two out of three state academic distinctions. When he was principal of Hallsville Middle School (2002–2008), HMS moved from acceptable to exemplary status (the top status) in four years. As principal of Hallsville High School (2008–2011), he led the school to become one of the top academic high schools in Texas and an exemplary campus in only two years. During his tenure at Hallsville, the district was named as a Solution Tree Model PLC District in 2011.
John has presented on the topics of Excellence in Every Classroom, Transformational Leadership, Creating Excellence Support Systems for all teachers and leaders, PLCs at Work, and RTI. He has been a featured speaker for numerous years for the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association,TEKS Resource System State Conference, and CCOSA (OK), and numerous state organizations, and he has presented to numerous regional education service centers, districts, leaders and teachers around Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and South Carolina for many years.
John’s first book, A Leader's Guide to Excellence in Every Classroom, was published by Solution Tree in August 2016. His second book, "A Teacher's Guide to Excellence in Every Classroom", was published by Solution Tree in November 2019. His strategies to strengthen Tier 1 interventions were featured in Mike Mattos and Austin Buffum’s anthology, It's about Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in the Elementary Classroom in 2015.
In all schools under John's leadership, student success improved dramatically due to the focused leadership structures, outstanding teachers, and a collaborative philosophy that collectively empowered all educators to create a positive school culture, design instructional structures to support students, and eliminate ineffective and inefficient practices. The result of these actions led teachers to focus on learning by focusing on the adult learning first. Every campus achieved greatness in its own unique way because the strategies capitalized on the staff's strengths, the campus traditions, and the campus’ commitment to its mission of guaranteeing excellence for all.
