STAFF BIOS

DR. BRYAN SETSER

Executive Director of North Carolina Virtual Public School

Since his hire in December of 2007 by the State Board of North Carolina, Dr. Setser's innovative practices and transformative leadership style have tripled online enrollment to over 28,000 students, standards and test scores have risen dramatically in all subject areas, and Dr. Setser continues to provide a vision that is well on its way to establishing the North Carolina Virtual Public School and Learn and Earn Online as national models for e-learning.

Dr. Setser serves on the North Carolina Distance Learning Association's Board, and is a member of the Leadership for Innovation Committee of the North Carolina State Board of Education. Moreover, he sits on the E-learning Commission for North Carolina, and is a member of the National Advisory Boards for Wimba and NBC Learn. Dr. Setser also serves as a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools evaluator and works as a National Examiner for world class organizations for the United States Department of Commerce.

A sought after state and national speaker, Dr. Setser regularly appears at state and national conferences, such as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the American Educational Research Association, the National Virtual School Symposium, Apple's Executive Academies, and the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference.

As Richard Boyd, Director, Lockheed Martin, Simulation Training and Support, 3D Learning Solutions states, "Increasingly, American economic leadership is based on our ability to maintain an edge in innovation. And that ability to innovate derives from the quality of our education system and the critical thinking ability of the next generation. Bryan Setser is one of the few leaders out there lighting the way for a brighter future for our country by daring to challenge assumptions and help teachers take full advantage of the information age. I am proud that he chose North Carolina as the place to begin. He is a state and national asset."

Throughout his career Dr. Setser has worked tirelessly to develop organizations and teams towards excellence at all levels of public education. Dr. Setser started his career at St. Stephens High School in Hickory, NC where he taught English and coached the men's and women's soccer teams. While at St. Stephens, Dr. Setser served as school improvement team chair and completed his administrative internship. Dr. Setser was also recognized as the Centennial National Teacher of the Year by Philadelphia University, and he guided the men's and women's soccer programs to state and national rankings. During his tenure as a coach, Dr. Setser was a three time conference and regional coach of the year.

As an assistant principal at Mooresville Middle School in Mooresville, North Carolina, Dr. Setser was awarded the Jack McCall Leadership Award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by the Principals' Executive Program. Dr. Setser has also been a principal at Piedmont Middle School in Union County where he was named principal of the year, and established the state's first University teaching fellows partnership grant between and LEA and East Carolina University, his alma matter.

Dr. Jerry Thomas, retired Union County Superintendent, next tapped Dr. Setser to open the county's second high school in forty years. Dr. Setser was instrumental in establishing Porter Ridge's 21st Century curriculum and also developed the counties' first public/private partnership for field development with Bonterra Development totaling nearly $300,000 for student-athletes at Porter Ridge High School.

Due to his intense focus on high school innovation, Dr. Setser's next post led him to Iredelll-Statesville schools where he served as the Chief Quality Officer and Executive Director of Secondary and 21st Century Learning. In Setser's dual leadership role, the district was one of the first thirty in the Southeastern United States to receive SACS district accreditation. Moreover, Setser's work with the America Quality and Productivity Council established the district as a national best practice site for staff development, and finally the school district was the only one in the nation to receive a site visit in 2007 from the distinguished Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Program. During Dr. Setser's time in Iredell-Statesville, SAT scores went from 15th in North Carolina to top 10, high school test scores and graduation rates consistently were on the rise, and he was instrumental in writing and leading a 3.1 million dollar high school small learning communities grant that the district received along with only three other districts in North Carolina and 36 in the United States.

Dr. Setser holds a doctorate from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, an educational specialist degree from UNC-Charlotte, a master's degree in educational leadership from Winthrop University, and a bachelor's degree in English from East Carolina University. Dr. Setser lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and has two children, Sydney (12) and Sims (6).

NCVPS - Learn and Earn Online Staff Bios
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