Nicole Poenitzsch Selected as Texas Nominee for 2025 National Superintendent of the Year

Bellville ISD Superintendent Nicole Poenitzsch, Ed.D., has been selected by TASA as Texas' nominee for 2025 National Superintendent of the Year, an award given by AASA, The School Superintendents Association.

Poenitzsch, superintendent of Bellville ISD since 2019, has worked in public education since 2005. She started her career as a teacher and coach before advancing into administrative leadership positions in Royal, Weimar, and Sealy ISDs. She earned her superintendent certification in 2012 and served as assistant superintendent of Learning & Innovation in Dripping Springs ISD before moving to Bellville ISD, where she is the district's first female superintendent.

"In Bellville ISD, our mission is to partner with students, parents, staff, and community to cultivate relevant learning experiences so that each individual is empowered by their unique gifts and interests," Poenitzsch said. "Our mission is more than just words on a wall. It is at the core of everything that we do. We have worked with our students and parents to identify our learners' areas of interests and worked to provide five academic academies and a total of 32 programs of study aligned with our learners' aspirations. Each avenue provides our learners with opportunities to attain industry certifications and early-college access in conjunction with earning their high school diploma. Additionally, Bellville ISD is the only district in the state of Texas with a local accountability system in place that accounts for 50% of our school ratings and is designed to measure our progress toward the learner traits identified in our locally developed portrait of a learner. Our Bellville community and Brahma Family in BISD are #BellvilleProud."

Poenitzsch holds a doctorate of education from Texas A&M University, a master of education from University of Houston-Victoria, and a bachelor's degree from Texas Tech University. A member of TASA since 2008, she is a member of TASA's Future-Ready Superintendents Leadership Network (FRSLN) Design Team. Poenitzsch is also a member of the Texas Council of Women School Executives and a member of the L.E.A.R.N. (Learning Environments Action Research Network) Organization and the Texas Strategic Leadership Initiative.

In September 2024, following Poenitzsch's selection as Region 6 Superintendent of the Year, the Texas Association of School Boards named her the 2024 Texas Superintendent of the Year. Now, as a state nominee for AASA National Superintendent of the Year, she will be considered by a panel of judges from across the U.S. that will select four finalists. The 2025 National Superintendent of the Year will be announced, and the state nominees honored, at AASA's National Conference on Education, March 6-8, 2025, in New Orleans.