Dr. Richard Hughes

Dr. Richard Hughes was born and raised in the Western New York and graduated from Perry Central School in 1992. He attended Allegheny College for his Bachelor of Science in Biology, completed his Master of Science and administrative certification at SUNY Fredonia and earned his Doctorate of Educational Leadership from Northcentral University. In December 2017, Rich was appointed the Superintendent of Schools for the Frontier Central School District, located just south of Buffalo along the shores of Lake Erie.

Dr. Hughes began his career as a high school science teacher and coach, before gathering experience in various administrative roles, including the past eight years as a Superintendent. Dr. Hughes led both of his prior school districts through a one student to one device (1:1) technology integration with the foundational focus on the development of a rigorous and relevant curriculum, coupled with effective instructional practices, personalized learning supported by aligned professional development. This resulted in significant academic gains, especially for struggling students in both low wealth districts. Most recently, he led Central Valley from a being a low performing district to amongst the highest performing in the BOCES. During his career he has already supervised over $100,000,000 in capital projects and improvements to lead his school districts into 21st century learning. Rich aims to empower others by acting as a facilitator for creating a shared vision, supporter to provide the necessary tools and training to support growth and a technological agitator by shifting the role of educators from the traditional factory model to one where students lead the learning with teachers acting as their guides. Dr. Hughes received the 2017 Outstanding Superintendent of the Year from NYSCATE. He is also a Lexington Education Leadership Award fellow, a contributor to COSN’s Trusted Learning Environment Seal, a committee member on regional, state and national technology initiatives and a presenter/panelist at various conferences.