District Leadership Fellows
The 2025–2026 cohort of District Leadership Fellows gathered at SMU for their two-day Fall Retreat in late September. After meeting online for the previous month, leaders from Texas and the surrounding states welcomed the opportunity to connect, collaborate, and learn in person.
A new cohort of school district leaders have been welcomed into the SMU District Leadership Fellows program, a hybrid in-person and online leadership training program for school district superintendents and district leaders run by the Institute for Leadership Impact at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
The 2024-2025 cohort of District Leadership Fellows has wrapped up their year-long program and it’s time to take a look back at their year.
27 school district leaders from Texas were welcomed into the eighth cohort of District Leadership Fellows. They represented districts ranging in size from less than 1000 students to over 60,000 students. Leaders from the Dallas-Fort Worth area were joined by those from Houston and east, west and south Texas.
As part of the District Leadership Fellows program, Mr. Ryan Steele, Executive Director of School Leadership and Innovation at Plano ISD, focused on leadership training for assistant principals with the goal of having two internal applicants ready for each principal vacancy.
As part of the District Leadership Fellows program, Dr. Marcy Corley, Director of Professional Learning at Frisco ISD, focused on increasing the retention rate of first-year teachers within her district by 5% through implementation of a comprehensive mentoring program. This goal is important to her as it supports her underlying mission of building capacity in educators so they become as impactful as possible.
The 2024-2025 cohort of District Leadership Fellows has completed their year-long program, during which they:
As part of the District Leadership Fellows program, Dr. Bobbie Treviño, Superintendent of Zapata County ISD, is focused on increasing reading proficiency of all students in her district. This goal is key for her as she believes all students should have the opportunity to develop strong literacy skills to support academic success, critical thinking and lifelong learning, and that literacy is the foundation to all other learning.
In early January, District Leadership Fellows gathered for their Winter Retreat. Fellows shared updates on their individual projects, reflected on their experience to date, participated in a panel discussion and prepared to create impact in their districts in the Spring.
Applications are open for the 2025–2026 cohort of the District Leadership Fellows, a hybrid in-person and online strengths-based leadership development program run by the Institute for Leadership Impact at Southern Methodist University. Emerging and established district leaders who are collaborative, motivated to create change, and who have a strong desire for personal leadership growth are invited to apply.
As District Leadership Fellows reach the mid-point of their program, it’s time to take a look back at their leadership journey to date.