Dr. Garett Smith will retire June 30 after more than eight years with Staunton Schools as superintendent, a career he never imagined as a student at UVA earning his bachelor’s degree.
He certainly never imagined his career as a teacher before becoming a superintendent, but his coming to Staunton in 2017 has touched many lives.
During his first year as an elementary school principal in 2003 in Newport News, a 3rd-grade student was shot at home during a drive-by shooting and died. At a memorial service held at the elementary school for the boy, all of the students in his class hugged his mother and mourned.
“Nobody told them to do it, so, as I was sitting there, watching that happen, I thought to myself: ‘wow, kids are inherently kind, you don’t have to tell them. They know that mother needs a hug right now,’” Smith said.
Smith saw his career come full circle at Staunton High School’s graduation ceremony on May 17. After receiving their diplomas and moving their cap tassels to the other side, each member of the Class of 2025 hugged Principal Tammy Lightner.
“It happened again. Every single one of those seniors stopped and hugged Miss Lightner,” Smith said. Hugging their principal was not part of graduation rehearsal.
Students also honored Smith’s retirement with a plague and a bench outside the school. A tree was planted at each Staunton school this spring in honor of Smith’s time with the school system.
Smith graduated McLean High School in northern Virginia and earned his bachelor’s in history from UVA, and later his doctorate. Then, while coaching high school soccer in Falls Church, he was on a school bus coming back from a game. His team had lost the game and none of the players spoke or laughed on the bus ride home because they thought he was angry with them for losing.
“That’s when I started thinking about teaching was right there,” Smith said. 
He took classes at night to earn his teaching certification while coaching during the day.
He met his wife, Wendy, while earning his master’s in teaching from Mary Mount University. After graduate school, the couple settled in Newport News 23 for where Smith taught 5th grade in Newport News, Hampton City and Isle of Wight schools. His wife also taught in public school.
Son, Andrew, is a teacher in Washington, D.C., and daughter, Caroline, is a nurse at UVA.
In 2017, Smith was looking to advance in his career as a superintendent and Staunton Schools was looking for a new leader to move the school system through several challenges, including a global pandemic that no one could have predicted.
Days after Smith arrived to lead Staunton Schools, August 12 happened in Charlottesville, a defining moment of unkindness in the Valley.
The couple moved to Staunton when daughter, Caroline, was a junior in high school. She graduated Staunton High School after the name was changed from Robert E. Lee High School.
Wendy obtained a job with Augusta County Schools as a teacher while Smith navigated the high school name change with the help of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities.
“So, I knew coming in that race relations were not in a good place and historically they probably haven’t been. It’s a lot different culturally here than it is in Tidewater,” Smith said.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, followed by city funding challenges for Staunton Schools.
In December 2021, Smith launched his Kindness Matters campaign to encourage students after the COVID-19 pandemic to understand that they are all inherently kind and capable of kindness.
“No matter where they come from and we’ve got to highlight that and recognize that and celebrate it,” Smith said.
The campaign was an approach to build a positive school culture in Staunton.
“I still love my job and I still wake up with plenty of energy to do [my job]. I’m energized by being in schools and working with kids and teachers, but my wife retired last year,” Smith said.
Smith said he will miss going into each of Staunton’s schools and interacting with students and teachers.
Smith, who will turn 61 this summer, said he began to think about retirement after his wife retired last year. He would like time to spend with his family, including four siblings who live in Virginia. Both of their parents died in the last couple years of cancer.
“There’s still time maybe, like I said, to make up for missing all those events and things,” Smith said.
However, Smith will not be completely retired. He has already started Garett Smith Educational Solutions: an LLC consultant firm through which he hopes to encourage student achievement scores and creative positive school cultures, much as he did for Staunton Schools the last eight years.
“We’re looking at early returns with our student achievement data and feel confident we’re going to move up in the [state] rankings again this year, so, if that happens, I think we can reclaim the mantle of we’ve made the most school improvement, most movement up the rankings,” Smith said of Staunton in 2025.
His LLC also has individualized student success stories.
At Staunton High School a few years ago, Smith worked with the central office to coach 23 seniors who were in danger of not graduating.
“So, what we did is we got our team together who was willing to work on solving this problem,” Smith said of the model his LLC will use to enable other students to achieve academic success.
Teachers and staff members volunteered to work one-on-one with each of the 23 students regarding behavior and grades. Twenty of the 23 students graduated and the other three enrolled in summer school.
“We’re going to try to get all of them. A hundred percent of the kids 100 percent of the time,” Smith said. “That’s the standard.”
Last year, the same model was applied to assisting a group of Staunton teachers who needed help in working to earn their licensure.
Smith would also like to participate in speaking engagements and write books about education.
Smith and his wife are going to remain in Staunton. His wife enjoys living in the Queen City.
“And I’m going to find out. Cause people say: ‘how do you like living in Staunton?’ And I say: ‘I’m not sure. I’ve been the superintendent the whole time and I’m going to find out now.’”
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Dr. Garett Smith announces retirement from Staunton Schools
‘Kindness matters’: Staunton Schools thanks Dr. Garett Smith for his impact as superintendent
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Rebecca Barnabi
