Press Release
Dr. Peter Gretz, Superintendent of Fluvanna County Public Schools, was presented with the Virginia Superintendent of the Year award during the Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS) Awards Luncheon (April 28) in Roanoke. VASS officers and presidents of several major state education organizations participated in the selection process.
More than 400 attendees were present to celebrate the announcement.
In March, Gretz had been announced as the Regional Superintendent of the Year, an award given annually to eight of Virginia’s 134 superintendents.
“VASS is thrilled that Dr. Peter Gretz has earned the distinction of Virginia’s Superintendent of the Year,” said VASS President and Washington County Superintendent, Keith Perrigan.
“Having worked alongside Pete in multiple capacities, I have had the unique opportunity to learn from him at various stages of my career. Pete’s tireless efforts to ensure learning environments are safe, comfortable, efficient and conducive to learning is a model for Superintendents across the nation. Dr. Gretz has never been afraid to challenge the status quo and always finds a way to do what is best for students,” he said. “Pete is the consummate professional, always willing to lend a hand, and has literally had an impact across the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Dr. Gretz, currently in his fifth year as superintendent of Fluvanna County Public Schools, is a 35-year Virginia educator.
Growing up in Richmond, he attended college in southwest Virginia at Emory & Henry. There, he began his career as a middle school Language Arts teacher upon graduating in 1991 and was a Teacher of the Year two years later in 1993.
For the next several years, he taught middle and high school English and advanced composition courses, coached wrestling and academic teams, and sponsored the Holston High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club.
Gretz held various school and division-level leadership positions throughout the state, including service in Orange, Buckingham, and Goochland counties, before becoming Middlesex County superintendent in 2016. There, he became the first superintendent in Virginia to fully power all school facilities with solar power.
The state has tapped his leadership and experience in several arenas. He chaired the State Superintendent’s Investigative Panel for seven years, a committee tasked with hearing teacher licensure action cases throughout Virginia. He continues to serve as vice president of the Coalition for Small and Rural Schools. He has been on the Board of Directors of the Association for Learning Environments, an interdisciplinary association of professionals working to drive the evolution and modernization of learning environments in schools.
He teaches master’s and doctoral degree courses in educational leadership for JMU, Longwood, and has written and presented widely throughout Virginia and nationally, most recently having been asked to deliver talks at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education in Green Bay and the National Superintendents Forum in Orlando.
Gretz, the father of four current Fluvanna County Public School students, said he feels privileged to participate in the school community that he has been tasked to serve and lead. He and his wife, Sara, are actively engaged in Calvary Chapel Fluvanna and Fluvanna Young Life, as well as their children’s involvement in community youth soccer and dance programs.
Dr. Gretz will be honored as Virginia’s Superintendent of the Year at the National Conference on Education, held next February in Nashville. He is also being considered for the National Superintendent of the Year award, which is presented each year at that same conference.
