About Bob Poffenbarger

Dr. Robert Poffenbarger spent 40 years serving public education, including 28 years as superintendent in three school districts, receiving the District 1 Superintendent of the Year Award from the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents in 2004. When he retired from the superintendency of Rochester Community Schools in Rochester, IN, in 2005, Dr. Poffenbarger joined McGrath Training Systems as a Certified McGrath Trainer specializing in the McGrath SUCCEED curriculum.

Bob is an expert in continuous improvement in the classroom. Under his leadership, Rochester became one of the very few school districts in the US where teachers and administrators alike frequently, systematically and routinely monitor learning progress and adjust instruction accordingly.

Not content just to provide the very best in instruction, Bob pursued excellence in personnel practices. He studied dominant theme patterns of excellence for teachers, administrators, and support staff, incorporating this learning into innovative hiring practices to identify highly qualified personnel. This led to a new inquiry: What was the best approach to developing and retaining these talented people? Bob knew that the answer lay in the arena of powerful supervision and evaluation practices -- which led him to McGrath.

With McGrath Bob discovered that it was possible to build a culture of trust, respect, understanding and growth at every school site. He became certified by Mary Jo McGrath to train his site administrators and classified managers in the McGrath SUCCEED System – a process that puts legally fit and ethically based principles to work to grow and develop every employee. The impact of SUCCEED was extraordinary. Bob learned what he had long suspected in his quest for continuous improvement, that given the skills and tools to impact employee performance, his administrators were ultimately empowered to positively impact student achievement.

Upon retirement, Bob joined McGrath as one of our national SUCCEED Trainers. He brings his vast knowledge, passion and experience as an educational leader and McGrath SUCCEED practitioner to school districts and public agencies across the US.

Bob Poffenbarger's Resume (PDF)