SHU Alum is Lebanon School Superintendent

Andrew Gonzalez completed all his degrees and certifications at SHU

Sacred Heart University alum Andrew Gonzalez ’03, MA ’05, who has led Connecticut’s Lebanon Public School District as superintendent for three years, credits his career achievements in part to SHU, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as two administrative certifications. For him, SHU has always been the school of choice.

After high school, Gonzalez enrolled at SHU because of its football program and its reputation for providing an excellent education. “I was looking for a smaller university feel,” said Gonzalez. “Sacred Heart was a place I felt wanted and where I knew I could be successful academically while being part of a football program. Sacred Heart checked off all my boxes.”

Gonzalez initially intended to become a physical therapist but found himself more interested in political science courses. Unsure of his career path, he pursued a more general route and declared a major in business management with a minor in psychology, which he felt would give him a broad range of knowledge to bring to the workforce.

He began working for an insurance company after earning his bachelor’s degree but soon realized the business field was not for him. A casual lunch with his SHU roommate led to a new path. His roommate’s mother, Karen Christensen, director of Sacred Heart’s Griswold program for the Isabelle Farrington College of Education & Human Development, suggested he consider teaching.

“When she asked me if I had ever thought about being a teacher, it was one of those lightbulb moments when I thought to myself, ‘Yes, I should do that,’” said Gonzalez. “This small interaction is something I now consider a life-changing moment.”

Gonzalez returned to SHU and graduated with his master’s degree in teaching. He then taught in Baltic, a village in the town of Sprague in New London County, for six years before returning to Sacred Heart again, this time to earn administrator certification. “I was getting a lot of feedback from some very supportive administrators and superintendents who said I would be a good leader,” said Gonzalez. He earned his intermediate administration certification from SHU in 2011.

From there, Gonzalez became an assistant principal in Bolton and was hired a year later as an elementary school principal in the town of Lebanon, which is in New London County. Five years later, he accepted a job as an elementary school principal in East Hampton.

When Gonzalez heard SHU was piloting a superintendent of schools certification program, he returned to the University once more. Gonzalez started the program in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so he was experiencing classroom challenges like those his East Hampton teachers and students were facing.

“We were a cohort of roughly a dozen students who were all sitting administrators looking to get our superintendent certification,” Gonzalez said. “Despite the challenges from the pandemic, there was a sense of community among all the students and faculty in the program.”

Coincidentally, the Lebanon Public School District, where he was once principal, was searching for a superintendent when Gonzalez graduated with his new certification. He was hired and has been Lebanon’s school superintendent for the past three years.

Mark Winzler, SHU professor and Gonzalez’ coach his first year as superintendent, has nothing but praise for his former student. “The word that comes to mind when I think of Andy is ‘unflappable’,” Winzler said. “He realizes that when you are dealing with other people, you need to keep your cool and speak respectfully and with intelligence. He is a rare combination of smart and people smart. He is a humanist.”

Gonzalez said he could have continued his education at any institution, but SHU’s tight-knit community and commitment to a quality education kept him at his alma mater. He considers himself a lifelong Pioneer and plans to continue supporting the University that has always supported him.

Top, from left: Andy Gonzalez ’03, MA ’05, superintendent of of Lebanon Public Schools; Gonzalez, lower right, with his 2001 championship football team at a 20-year reunion on Campus Field; Gonzalez during his playing days.