Ashland University grad named interim superintendent for Westerville City Schools

Angela Hamberg fell in love with the Ashland University campus when she attended Buckeye Girls State there the summer after her junior year of high school.

She also was so impressed with the university’s education program while she was looking at colleges as a Mount Gilead High School student that she decided AU was the place for her, not only for a bachelor’s degree in 1998, but also a master’s degree in educational administration in 2002.

“I loved the small classes and the individual attention from professors,” Hamberg said.

Hamberg said her AU experiences have helped her throughout her education career, which recently saw her named interim superintendent for Westerville City Schools, whose current superintendent announced in February his retirement.

While Hamberg said she is open to the idea of becoming the district’s permanent superintendent, for now, she’s happy to help the district during a busy time of year.

“I look forward to collaborating with a strong leadership team to positively impact the students and the Westerville community,” Hamberg said.

The courses she took as a comprehensive communications education major as an undergrad helped her as an English teacher at Plymouth and Northridge high schools and were great preparation to be a district leader in the Northridge, Johnstown-Monroe and Big Walnut school districts, she said.

“The classes I took for my principal’s license/master’s degree years ago certainly helped me obtain some foundational leadership knowledge,” Hamberg added. “Since then, I have served in many leadership roles; most recently, I was the superintendent of Big Walnut Local Schools for seven years. The knowledge I learned, along with practical experience, has helped prepare me to lead a school district.”

Hamberg, whose most recent job was serving the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio as an instructional materials specialist and certified executive leadership coach, said she strives to be a transformational leader who relies on strong relationships, a shared vision, collaboration and coaching of adults to create positive changes for students.

“Again, I would say that some of those foundational skills were part of my master’s program, but it has taken years of application to really learn how to be a strong leader,” she said. “I am always looking to learn and grow as a leader.”