SHELBY — Susan Snyder is coming home.
The Shelby native will return to the district next year as the principal of Dowds Elementary School.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity to serve the community in this way,” said Snyder, a 1985 graduate of Shelby High School. “I know it’s a big responsibility and I’m looking forward to it.”
Snyder has spent the last two years as the director of special education at Plymouth Shiloh Local Schools. She said she’s excited to work directly with students, teachers and families in her new role.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to know the kids and their parents. In the position I’m in right now, I don’t really get to be with kids at all and I really miss that,” she said. “I’m very much committed to providing a really safe and positive environment where all the kids feel that they’re valued and teachers are supported.
“I want it to be a place where kids enjoy being there.”
Snyder holds a bachelor’s in education from Bowling Green State University, a master’s in education, curriculum and instruction from the University of St. Mary and administrative licensure and building principal license from Ashland University.
Snyder decided to go into education after seeing a close family member struggle in school due to a learning disability.
“Special education has always been my passion,” she said. “I saw what an impact a good teacher makes. That really made an impact on my decision to be a teacher and help kids who struggled in school.”
Snyder began her education career in Marietta, Georgia, where she worked as an elementary intervention specialist. After six years, she returned to north central Ohio and spent four years at Plymouth Middle School.
Then an opportunity opened up in her hometown. She spent the next 16 years as an intervention specialist at Dowds Elementary.
“We are very excited to have Sue Snyder back in the district,” said Supt. Tim Tarvin. “She was a tremendous staff member when she was here and she’ll be equally tremendous in her new position.
“She brings a unique perspective with her background in special education and we look forward to her getting started with us.”
Snyder will replace Kristin Kaple-Jones, who has led Dowds Elementary for the last eight years.
“Kristin was my principal for six years and she was actually the one who encouraged me to go back and get my administrator’s license,” Snyder said. “She was the first person to call me after it was announced. She’s already offered to sit down with me in June and help me get ready.”
Kaple-Jones said she’s confident Snyder will do well in the role.
“I’m excited to have her back because she knows our school and she knows the Shelby community very well,” Kaple-Jones said. “She’s compassionate for students and teachers alike.
“She’s a great communicator. She has a very kind heart and she’s an advocate for all kids.”
Kaple-Jones will leave the district at the end of the school year to take a position as superintendent of Monroeville Local Schools.
“I’m grateful for all the experiences that I’ve had here and everything Shelby has given me,” she said. “I wish them nothing but great success in the future.”
