Honoring Susan Schroth

This month, RSC bids farewell to a longtime advocate and leader for rural

education: Susan Schroth of North State Together. Susan is retiring after an esteemed career in educational leadership, which has included serving on the Rural Schools Collaborative Board of Directors, RSC Northern California Hub lead, and as project lead for the GRAD Partnership. The entire Rural Schools Collaborative community is grateful to Susan for her dedication to the RSC Hub Network, which North State Together has co-lead since 2017. As she enters her next chapter, we want to take a moment to honor her many contributions to the world of rural education in California and beyond.

Prior to North State Together, a Redding-based Collective Impact Organization that is part of Shasta College, Susan held a variety of educational positions. These include serving as an elementary school librarian, a middle school registrar, and state/district testing coordinator. She also served six years as a school board member for the Shasta Union Elementary School District, which led her to engage with broader policies and procedures of the California State K-12 educational system. This experience culminated in her working as Operations Manager for North State Together, where she supported cradle-to-career efforts across Northern California’s remote counties.

As Susan became North State Together’s hub lead for Rural Schools Collaborative, it became clear that her dedication to supporting underrepresented rural communities and vast knowledge of educational ecosystems would position her well to serve on the RSC board of directors. In 2022, Susan joined the RSC board, alongside Dakota Resources’ Mike Knutson and the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque’s Nancy Van Milligen. Most recently, Susan served as board treasurer. Under the leadership of Susan and her fellow board members, this period of time saw RSC’s national footprint increase dramatically and our programmatic reach expand from coast to coast.

Also in 2022, Rural Schools Collaborative joined the GRAD Partnership, a national initiative to develop and grow student success systems in schools. Susan, alongside Annah Rogers of The University of West Alabama, each recruited ten regional schools to form the Rural Cohort of the GRAD Partnership. Susan and North State Together played an essential role by offering support for implementing and improving student success systems, facilitating data collection, building connections among schools, and highlighting their achievements. She has been a tireless advocate for rural schools throughout her leadership in this program, empowering rural students to grow their agency, belonging, and connectedness at school.

As Susan rolls off the board and retires from her work at North State Together, the RSC team is both sad to see her go and immensely proud to have worked with someone so committed to serving rural education. Her fighting spirit, innovative leadership, and listening ear will stay with all of those who have worked with her during her career. We wish her well in retirement, elated that she will have more time to spend with her husband, Steve, and her two sons, Alex and Brady. Thank you for all you’ve done, Susan!