Forest Hills — Ben Kirby is back in learning mode: studying, meeting with staff and learning how Forest Hills works as he gears up for his first year as the district’s superintendent.
“It’s probably a good 12 to 18 months before you really understand why we do some of the things,” said Kirby, who took over his new role on July 1. “What a cycle is, which takes a full year to get through a cycle, but really the first three months, it’s nothing but learning for the most part, and I’ll continue to learn throughout.”
So for the first 90 days, he is meeting with administrators and board members, discussing such topics as curriculum and instruction, safety and security, and how best to support the more than 2,000 Forest Hills staff and educators and more than 9,000 students.
Kirby hopes to meet more staff, students and community members at an open house from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, at the district’s new administration building, 620 Forest Hills Ave. SE. The event will include other new Forest Hills administrators, along with tours of the new facility.
‘(Kirby) is committed to setting high standards and expectations for all students and staff. His charismatic approach and focus on building a culture of trust align perfectly with our district’s values and future goals.’
— Kristen Fauson, Board of Education president
“There’s a lot of excitement here for greatness and for doing great things for kids,” Kirby said, adding that it was the community that attracted him to Forest Hills. “Obviously, with the support of the $340 million bond (approved by voters last November), that says a lot about what the community thinks about the school district and the potential and what they want for their children, in our students.”
Board of Education President Kristen Fauson said it was Kirby’s collaborative leadership style and his track record of fostering trust and positive relationships that attracted the board in selecting him as the district’s next superintendent.
“He is known for his ability to listen, engage stakeholders and bring people together around a shared vision of excellence,” Fauson said. “He is committed to setting high standards and expectations for all students and staff. His charismatic approach and focus on building a culture of trust align perfectly with our district’s values and future goals.”
A Product of Mentors
Mentors played a huge role in Kirby’s life, he said, noting that his father left early in his life so he craved that connection as a young man. As a result, he often would work at sports camps and coaching other students in his Ionia community.
“When I got into this, as a career, it was really about the mentors that I had growing up,” Kirby said. “I had some coaches and teachers that played a really important part in my life, as far as being male role models.”
When he started at Michigan State University, he initially thought he would enter law enforcement, but as he continued to work with young students, he decided to pursue an education career.
“It’s been my only career avenue,” Kirby said. “I started out actually as a grounds crew person, when I think I was a freshman in college.”
After earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, Kirby was hired as a sixth-grade teacher at Central Montcalm Public Schools. A few years later, he would return to his alma mater, Ionia Public Schools, where he would serve for 24 years.
“I think one of the fondest memories I have is just the relationship building,” Kirby said of his time as a teacher. “Throughout my teaching career, I kind of gravitated toward students that needed more attention, and again, it goes back to being a mentor and a role model and what really has kind of developed me as I went through my career.
“I use the phrase ‘champions of hope,’ and I think that’s what I was doing early on and what I still feel like I’m doing as a superintendent now: really trying to multiply leaders, and creating relational capacity with students and trying to help build communities within the classroom.”
By building close relationships with students, he saw the impact it had on those who needed that attention. Some even returned with their own children, telling Kirby about the experiences and impacts he had.
“Those are the things that I look back at,” he said. “You don’t always realize the difference you’re making in a classroom until down the road. Sometimes you do, but a lot of times it’s later.”
From Leading a Classroom to Leading a District
Because of his reputation and experience working with at-risk students, Kirby was encouraged to apply for the assistant principal position at Ionia Middle School. He also served as middle school and then high school principal. While high school principal, he started to “think bigger,” he said, “and I thought, ‘You know, someday, when I grow up, I’d like to be a superintendent.’”
He eventually became Ionia’s associate superintendent, a position that gave him experience in several fields: human resources, curriculum compliance, state and federal programs, and school improvement.
With a goal to become a superintendent, Kirby said he began to work with a search firm, looking for a larger district where he could focus on an area — specifically, human resources — as “I have always liked working with people.”
That would take him to the east side of the state, away from family, to the assistant superintendent position at South Lyon Public Schools. There, he found another mentor, then South Lyon Superintendent Melissa Baker.
Kirby called South Lyon a “great experience,” where his skills in communication and human resources were key as the district moved through COVID. It was at that time, Kirby recalled, he was told about the superintendent position at Lake Orion, where he would be for the next four years.
Coming Back Home
Kirby said the plan for him and his wife, Lynette, was to eventually return to West Michigan, where their family and children are based. But he knew it had to be the right fit.
“(Forest Hills) is the only district that I ever thought that if the position ever opened, I would pursue the opening and, ironically, it opened and it was just everything kind of lined up that our path came back here.”
Through his research, Kirby said he discovered that Forest Hills is an “amazing school district” and he really liked the “family feel” it had.
“People are proud to be in the school district. They’re warm. The schools are obviously all very prideful. … (There are) three different attendance zones, but we are all one Forest Hills, even though they have their different personalities.”
Kirby said he feels “privileged to come to work every day,” and that he is looking forward to building on the district’s accomplishments.
“Everybody’s been amazing, right from day one,” Kirby said. “The warm welcome has been felt and people have been super receptive of me being here, and supportive. … I look forward to meeting more of the community and working with the community.”
Read more from Forest Hills:
• The epiphany that got this senior to graduation
• Forest Hills students take top spot in Write Michigan contest
