Ahart is currently the Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning for the school district and prior to that served as principal of Warren G. Harding Middle School in Des Moines. He became the district’s acting superintendent last Thursday when former Superintendent Nancy Sebring made her resignation effective immediately.

“The Board is grateful for Tom’s willingness to serve in this new capacity in order to not only maintain continuity but more importantly to keep our district moving forward,” said Teree Caldwell-Johnson, chair of the Des Moines School Board. “He brings both a depth of experience to this role as well as hands-on leadership with a number of important issues throughout the school district.”

“It’s an honor to be able to serve our students, teachers, and families in this new role,” addedAhart. “I am excited about much of the work underway in throughout our district, and look forward to continuing the momentum we’ve seen in recent years.”

As Associate Superintendent, Ahart oversaw a wide range of teaching and learning functions, including curriculum, assessment, ELL, early childhood education, special education, and gifted and talented programs. For the past three years, Ahart was principal of Harding Middle School. He has also served as the Director of Human Resources at the Ankeny Community School District, the Director of Instruction at the Marshalltown Community School District, and as a school improvement consultant at the Heartland Area Education Agency. Ahart has also been a language arts teacher at high schools in Denison, IA and Glenwood Springs, CO.

Ahart has been involved in a number of educational and professional associations, having served as president of the Iowa Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and an editor of Iowa Educational Leadership. Ahart received a BA in speech and mass communications from the University of Denver as well as a Master’s of Public Administration and Ed.S from Drake University. He is completing his Doctorate in Education Leadership at Drake University with a dissertation on student achievement factors in Iowa schools.