After thirteen years in Dexter Community Schools and three decades in education, Superintendent Dr. Chris Timmis will be retiring on February 28th.
During his 30-year career in education, Timmis has served multiple communities in a variety of roles: paraeducator, teacher, coach, curriculum director, high school principal and superintendent. Before coming to Dexter, he led Adrian Schools as superintendent for five years.
The Sun Times News (STN) caught up with Timmis to ask him a few last questions before he steps down.
STN: What led you into education as a career?
Timmis: I always enjoyed learning, but always felt that schools could do a better job for kids. I went into education as a career because I liked working with students, I wanted to coach, and I really wanted to create a better school system for kids.
STN: What are your takeaways from helping to lead Dexter?
Timmis: Dexter is a wonderful community and a great place for kids to grow up. The community is extremely supportive of the schools and that’s what makes Dexter Community Schools such an incredible school district. Kids need a strong community to support their growth and Dexter is a great example of the power of a community school district.
In terms of takeaways, that’s a tough question.Throughout my 13 years at Dexter, it’s been a great learning and growth experience to lead a district that really defines the community. Our district is 84 square miles, is both in Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, cuts through 8 townships, but regardless of which municipality people live in, everyone has their Dread Strong signs and supports our kids. I would say my biggest takeaway is the power of a community to support students. Every kid in our country deserves the opportunity to live in such a supportive and nurturing environment like Dexter.
I’ve had the opportunity to watch our current seniors grow up since they were in kindergarten. I’ve seen them on the little league fields, in the concerts, in the plays, play Saturday morning basketball, try out instruments at Creekside, navigate middle school through a pandemic, and become leaders as they move into high school. All the while, the entire community supports them and their growth. Our community members who support our robotics students in their free time, the Lions Club and Rotary Club members who volunteer their time to support our kids and their activities, the volunteer youth coaches, the volunteers for drama and band, and the overall support from our entire community for our kids is truly special.
STN: What are some of your highlights?
Timmis: I’ve had a blessed and long career as a superintendent over the past 18 years. There’s a long list but I’ll highlight a few.
Prior to coming to Dexter, I was the superintendent in Adrian. During that time, we were able to raise our graduation rate from one of the lowest in the state to one of the highest, raise test scores from the bottom 5 percent in the state to the top 10 percent, and create some of the most innovative programming in the state and country at the time. While I’ve loved my time in Dexter, while in Adrian, we completed the most meaningful accomplishment of my career by raising private donations to convert an old pool into the Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee (BGCL). Once established, a “member” paid $3 per year to be a member of the club where we had almost 180 students attending every day from 3-8 p.m. and all day during the summer where they were given leadership development, support, and everything the Boys and Girls Club can provide for kids. To this day, I vividly remember the ribbon cutting and watching hundreds of 8-14 year olds joyously run into the new club. It’s definitely a highlight of my career.
Over the 13 years at Dexter, we’ve had so many highlights! Our commitment to engaging students in their learning and graduating every student on time is not just an aspirational goal but what our teachers and staff do on a daily basis. As a school district, we have a 99 percent 4-year graduation rate and a 97 percent 4-year graduation rate for our students with IEPs. This is hands down the highest in the state!
The shaping of our programs and campus have been a great journey and I would consider them highlights. During my first year in Dexter, we had two preschool classrooms at Creekside but families were in need of childcare and increased preschool options. We facilitated the donation of the former Generations Together to DCS to become Jenkins Early Childhood Learning Center. This allows us to provide childcare for children as young as 6 weeks old through their time starting K-12. We then expanded Young 5’s from a single class offering a half day program to 5 full classes in some years. Over time, we were able to build Beacon, sell Copeland to become the Encore Theater, add an alternative education program, add the Dexter Early Middle College where our students could earn both a DHS diploma and an Associate’s Degree, and increase student achievement to the point that the last time Michigan ranked schools, we had schools ranked at the 98th, 97th, 95th, and 94th percentiles in the state. We built Beacon, the quad fields, the twin turfs, the Ceriani Building, and changed our classrooms with flexible furniture and appropriate technology. In 2013, when I started, we had an 89% 4-year graduation rate and it is now 99 percent. We had 89 total IB course enrollments and it is now nearly 600. We had 260 AP course enrollments and it is now nearly 700. We had 27 total dual enrollments for college credit and it is now over 400. We were able to increase the level of engagement and rigorous coursework for our students while also graduating close to every student on time. This is definitely a highlight!
Recently, we were able to secure state and federal funding to build the Dexter Senior Center and purchase the Dexter Wellness Center. The power of community is tremendous and having a local school district that supports children from as young as 6 weeks of age through high-level high school and college coursework while also serving the community with the Wellness Center and our seniors with a 9,000 sq ft brand new Dexter Senior Center makes DCS a uniquely incredible school district.
One last highlight…DHS was 1-44 in football during my first 5 years. This year, we played in the state finals! Over the last 8 years, our high school football team has recorded nearly 25 percent of our historic victories dating back to the 1950’s. It’s been a historic turnaround and we did it the right way. We developed the students who live here and are walking our halls. All of our teams in every sport always won but Friday nights were tough. The kids and the community deserved a better experience. Moving from 1-44 to 65-22 was what our kids and the community deserved. That’s been a definite highlight!
STN: What’s next for you?
Timmis: I have a few plans that I’m working on. Part of my time, I’m planning to work as a Leadership Performance Coach supporting leaders from education and other fields. I was blessed to have great coaches help me grow throughout my career and I’d like to pay it back by helping others. I’m also the Board President and a founding member of the Future of Learning Council (FLC). The FLC is a non-profit with almost 90 Michigan school district and ISD members working to change our educational model in the state so we can support Every Child, Every Day. I’m looking forward to continuing this work and continuing to pursue the goal I initially entered into education to achieve: creating a better school system for kids.
DCS is having a Retirement Party for Timmis on Wednesday, February 25th, 3:30-5:00 p.m. in the Creekside Cafeteria. All Dexter community members are invited to attend and wish him well in his retirement. Light refreshments will be served.
8123 Main St Suite 200 Dexter, MI 48130
