By Rodd Cayton, Route 66 Independent — Cindy Sims says her next role will be “the little old lady with story books.”
After 45 years in education, the last seven as superintendent of the Estancia Municipal School District, Sims is retiring at the end of the school year.
She said she wants to spend more time with her family, but also isn’t ready to permanently leave the field, and suggested volunteering at the library or at a school near her Edgewood home is in her future.
Before coming to Estancia, Sims was with the Moriarty-Edgewood School District for 23 years, serving in roles that included principal and chief of curriculum development and personnel.
Sims’ career started in the rural Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District in California.
“When I came here, it felt like I’d kind of returned home, because I started in a really small district,” she said. “And then I’m ending up in a small district surrounded by ranch and farmland and salt of the earth people, just a great community to have been a part of. In fact, I’m having a hard time leaving.”
Sims told the Route 66 Independent the EMSD has already found a successor, but declined to identify that person before the school board takes action to make the hire at a special meeting Sunday.
“I can say that I’m very excited about the person,” Sims said. “The district’s gonna be in good hands.And I’ll be transitioning with that person in the coming months and committed to their success.”
Sims came to Estancia after then-Superintendent Joel Shirley asked her to run some professional development activities for EMSD.
“I was presenting at a board meeting one night, and they asked me to stay,” Sims recalled. “I thought, ‘oh, dear, I’m in trouble.’ And I didn’t realize it, but the whole time I was doing the leadership training, it was an on-the-job interview.”
She became an assistant superintendent, then took the top job when Shirley retired.
Sims said she knew she wanted to be a teacher when her second-grade teacher had her help create a bulletin board on the life cycle of a butterfly.
“I thought, ‘I love butterflies,” she recalled. “‘I can teach about butterflies. I want to be a teacher.’”
Sims said the accomplishments of which she is most proud include installing the first conditioners in Estancia schools and guiding districts through the COVID-19 pandemic and school closings.
A recent success is the approval last month of $4 million in bonds that will allow the EMSD to enhance its career and vocational education offerings.
What’s special about Estancia, Sims said, is the unity of purpose among staff, school board members and the community.
“In our district, everything is driven by what’s best for students,” she said. “Everything’s about the kids all day, every day, which is the way school should be.”