Board of Education Approves One-Year Extension for Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain

Earlier this spring, the Rockwood Board of Education unanimously approved extending Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain's contract through the 2026-2027 school year. 

Dr. Cain started in Rockwood in 2022 after an extensive nationwide search. His original Rockwood contract ran through the 2024-2025 school year, and the Board voted in Spring 2023 to extend his contract through 2025-2026.

“The Rockwood School District has benefited from another year of strong leadership from Dr. Cain,” said Board President Lynne Midyett. “His poise and warmth during his first two years of leading our district has shown itself in numerous positive interactions with students, staff members, families and the wider Rockwood community. We appreciate Dr. Cain’s commitment to excellence, and we are confident his vision and leadership will ensure future success and growth.”

Dr. Cain is a nationally certified superintendent who was named the 2022 Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA) Superintendent of the Year and the AASA School Superintendents Association National Superintendent of the Year. In 2016, he was named the MASA New Superintendent of the Year for the St. Louis region. 

Dr. Cain began his teaching career at Dollarway Junior High School in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he taught social studies. From there, he was a senior research associate and then a program manager of the School Improvement Model Center at Iowa State. He also served five years as the director of curriculum and professional development at the Park Hill School District in Kansas City, Missouri. He was an associate superintendent for educational services in the Shawnee Mission School District in Overland Park, Kansas, for six years prior to being named superintendent of the Wentzville School District in 2013. He spent nine years leading Wentzville before taking the position as superintendent in Rockwood in 2022.

He holds a doctorate degree and a Master of Science in Educational Administration from Iowa State University and a Bachelor of Science in Social Science Education from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. While at Iowa State, he was named a George Washington Carver Doctoral Fellow and awarded the Jordan Larsen Outstanding Dissertation in Educational Administration Award. In 2009, he was honored as the Iowa State University Outstanding Young Professional Award winner by the College of Human Sciences and in 2023, he was named recipient of the school's Virgil S. Lagomarcino Laureate Award for distinguished achievement in the field of education.