"The ESC of the Western Reserve has built a reputation for building quality programs for schools. The collaborative spirit between districts has been a direct result of Superintendent Felker's leadership and her desire to provide high-quality service and programs to all the districts in Lake and Geauga counties."
February 19, 2021
Angela Smith
Superintendent, Madison Local Schools
"I am writing to recommend Dan Wilson for your Administrative searches. The Cardinal Board of Education used him in 2022 for both our Superintendent and Treasurer search. He was well organized, starting with an agreed upon calendar of tasks. He met each deadline. Mr. Wilson organized the candidates with a short synopsis of each. He facilitated the interview process, by arranging arrival times for each candidate and providing questions for the board members.
We were very pleased with our results and would definitely seek his service again. "
December 15, 2022
Linda Smallwood
Cardinal Board of Education President
"When we, the Crestwood Local Board of Education, found ourselves in need of a new Treasurer late last Spring, we knew we would need guidance in how to proceed with a search. At the recommendation of one of our administrators, we contacted Dan Wilson and are so happy that we did. All five of our Board members agree that Dan's professionalism, knowledge, and experience were just what we needed. He guided us through the process beginning with detailed questions for us, goal- setting discussions, timelines and background information, and interview procedures and schedules. The process was smooth and very successful. We felt prepared, educated, and in control for the duration of the process. In addition, we feel that we now have an excellent new Treasurer. Currently, a couple of months after our new Treasurer started, we continue to be in contact with Dan as he provides on-going guidance and general advice to our Treasurer. We are extremely happy with how Dan Wilson helped us through this process, extremely happy with our new Treasurer, and would recommend that any organization searching for Treasurer or Superintendent contact Dan. You will be impressed and very glad that you did. "
January 4, 2023
Karen Schulz
President- Crestwood Board of Education
"The Job Training program offered through the ESCWR has truly filled a void in our district's programming. This program has provided our students with authentic learning opportunities through which they can develop vocational skills in a supportive environment. The Job Coaches work hard to ensure each student is provided with experiences that align with the student's preferences, interests, needs, and strengths and are always willing to problem solve and adapt programming as needed. The collaboration of this team with our school-based IEP teams has truly enhanced the educational experience of our students. We couldn't be more proud of this partnership."
October 11, 2023
Jennifer Bencko
Director of Pupil Services Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools
"The ESC of the Western Reserve supports its member school districts in multiple ways.
- The ESC provides access to shared programs and resources. The ESC hosts and offers programs that would be too impractical and/or costly for an individual district to design, staff, and maintain independently.
- The ESC partners with districts area businesses and organizations to develop and fund curricular initiatives designed to promote learning and career opportunities.
- The ESC facilitates and expedites communication with the Ohio Department of Education due to ESC Superintendent Jennifer Felker's former administrative role in ODE. During the recent pandemic, the ESC proved helpful in promoting regular communication with the regional county health departments.
- The ESC offers a safe forum in which school district administrators can share ideas, address common concerns, construct strategies, celebrate successes, and brainstorm solutions to educational challenges."
October 16, 2023
Richard Markwardt, Ph. D.
Superintendent of West Geauga Local Schools
"The Crestwood Local School District recently engaged in a search for a new superintendent. We immediately contacted the ESC of the Western Reserve to outline the search process for us and give us a feel for the steps we would need to take in order to navigate this process successfully. We had confidence that the ESC of the Western Reserve could do this because of our interactions with them in the past, especially with Mr. Dan Wilson and his previous, well-balanced guidance that he had given us on other matters. After our informational sessions with Mr. Wilson on the basics of a superintendent search, we as a board made the commitment to engage the ESC of the Western Reserve to lead the process of searching for and vetting candidates for the position. During this process the board had autonomy, with wise, professional guidance from the ESC and both Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Nancy Santilli. Their insight, experience and wisdom were extremely valuable to us, and we were able to trust that guidance and benefit from it. The ESC of the Western Weserve advertised the positions, collected and collated the applications for us, led the board and stakeholders through the process of identifying our target qualifications and values for the candidates, and guided us through the interviews. I believe it was a very successful search made possible by the guidance we received from Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Santilli and the ESC. My recommendation to any school board involved in the search for a superintendent or treasurer would be wholeheartedly in favor of engaging the ESC of the Western Reserve to help them navigate this process."
July 11, 2024
Dan Tillett
President- Crestwood Board of Education