Grandville — One of the first things Superintendent John Philo did after moving into his new office in the Grandville Public Schools administration building — the big room with all the windows and a Grandville G on the wall — was to text the office’s previous occupant, former Superintendent Roger Bearup.
“It was my first day sitting in the seat, and I sent (Roger) a picture of my computer screen and just asked him, ‘When does this stop feeling weird?’” Philo said with a smile. “Like, it just feels weird to fill the role of the person that helped mentor you and guide you into that space.
“It doesn’t mean I don’t feel prepared — I do feel very prepared for the role. And I also know there are plenty of things I’m going to learn as I go along the way. But it is a little surreal.”
For eight years, Philo’s office was right next door, as the assistant superintendent for human resources. But the change of scenery is more than a symbolic one, he said.
“Being here means I’m able to think big-picture and start pulling out things that I know I really want to do for Grandville,” he said. “Roger gave me so many great opportunities to do that, but now it’s just me. That’s pretty exciting. And he told me it will stop feeling weird sometime in September.”
‘The people part of the work is way more important than the paper part of the work.’
— Superintendent John Philo
Embracing Community Support
This fall will mark the start of Philo’s 24th year with Grandville Public Schools; he first joined the district as a seventh-grade science teacher in October 2003. Over two decades, he took on roles including assistant principal and principal of Grandville High School, principal of Grandville Middle School, and the assistant superintendent for human resources.
A native of Parma, Michigan, a rural village in Jackson County, Philo married his Jenison-native bride, Erica, and they committed to staying in West Michigan. He knew next to nothing about Grandville specifically before taking a job with the district.
The sense of community he found in GPS, he said, quickly won him over.
“The first thing I noticed was just how much the staff cared for each other,” he said. “I learned that this was a place where you were going to grow and get better and you were going to get the support that you needed.
“As I got further along in my teaching career and when I shifted into administrative roles, what also became clear is that that support also exudes from the community here. Our community really pours into this space. In that way it feels like the small towns I’m familiar with, where the schools are the center of it all. … When you get to see that at a bigger level, it’s pretty fantastic.”
Philo had plenty of reasons to lean on that community support as he stepped into administration roles. After working 18 months as assistant principal at the high school with one of his best friends, then-principal Chris VanderSlice, Philo took over as acting principal when VanderSlice was diagnosed with leukemia. That same year, the high school lost three of its students to illnesses and an accident.
That year was pivotal to understanding his role as an empathetic leader, Philo said.
“I distinctly remember thinking, ‘OK, I get it. I know I’m supposed to be here,’” he said. “You just figure out in those moments that the people part of the work is way more important than the paper part of the work.”
‘The face of the district’
In his first year as superintendent, one of Philo’s immediate goals is to reconnect with both students and the Grandville community, since his role in human resources the past few years meant he hasn’t been as visible. He wants to continue hosting student forums as his predecessor did, visit school buildings regularly, get to know district families, attend chamber of commerce meetings and “just establish myself as the face of the district, as Roger did so well,” he said.
Philo also plans to continue to build on the district’s Multi-Tiered System of Support for students, its behavioral and academic interventions, and the Tier 1 instruction all students receive.
“The schools that have really moved the needle for academic achievement for all kids are the ones that have focused really heavily on their Tier 1 work, and so we have to make sure that that stays at the forefront of everything that we do,” he said. “It has to become our ‘why,’ as it relates to how we grow and move kids forward.”
As he considers the next few years, Philo said his priority is to ensure Grandville remains a “destination district” in West Michigan.
“The market for enrollment has become more and more competitive,” he said. “We have to focus on not just our community and our culture, but the athletic teams that we have and the fine arts we provide and the robotics teams and the student support and all the other pieces that make us a high-achieving school district.
“If we look five years down the road and we’ve been able to maintain our current enrollment without looking too deeply into Schools of Choice, I think we can say that would be a rousing success for us.”
In His Own Words
What would you like to share about your family? Philo and his wife, Erica, recently celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary: “She’s my rock. The times when I’ve been an administrator and things have been really, really hard, she holds it all together. She’s a huge blessing to me in that way.”
Erica, a 28-year teacher for Kenowa Hills Public Schools, comes from a family of many educators in West Michigan. The couple has three children: Josh, a senior at Calvin University; Luke, a sophomore at Cornerstone University; and Ellie, a high school junior. Together, the family enjoys being out on the water in any capacity, hiking, skiing and other outdoor adventures.
The Philo kids all attend(ed) Byron Center Public Schools, and not Grandville or Kenowa Hills, because “we wanted to be in a place where our kids could just be — where they weren’t ‘Mrs. Philo’s kids’ or ‘Mr. Philo’s kids,’ and where we could be just ‘mom and dad,’” he said.
Education/degrees:
- Bachelor’s degree in biology, Grand Valley State University
- Bachelor’s degree in education, Aquinas College
- Master’s degree in educational leadership, GVSU
- Education specialist degree in education leadership, GVSU
One thing you want people to know about you: “Something I’m most proud of is that I’m from a large family — I have five brothers and sisters, my dad was the oldest of 11 and my mom is the second-oldest of eight.
“You learn early on how to pay attention to each other’s wants and needs: how to sacrifice the things that you really wanted because other people needed something, to appreciate when they do it for you, and how to figure out when it was important for your own needs to be met. … It was just a wonderful upbringing, and a pretty important part of who I am.”
Fun fact: Philo spent 20 years as a referee and lineman for Division 1 college ice hockey, including 12 straight years of conference playoffs and four NCAA Final Fours.
“People have asked me what best prepared me to be an administrator — it was my family, and it was refereeing. Because you have to make a decision and then you have to move on. Even if it’s a really bad one, you have to be able to figure out what to do next, because the decision’s done.”
What is one thing on your bucket list? “A while ago I would have said ‘climbing a mountain,’ but I don’t know if that’s in the cards anymore. I do think it would be cool to say that I completed a triathlon. Probably not an Ironman, because that’s a little bit aggressive, but a triathlon has always piqued my interest. … I think it’s about that sense of accomplishment: I don’t need to win it; I just want to be able to finish it.”
What is exciting to you personally about becoming superintendent? “Staying with the team I have … and creating a legacy.
“The benefit to me is that I’m not starting a superintendency being the new guy that nobody really knows. I have meaningful relationships (and) very, very close friends here … and I’m most excited that I get to serve that. I get to be a part of something I’ve helped build over 24 years.
“Also, I get to set it up for the next person, so that when I leave, I know that the district is continuing to move in the right direction. It’s what (former Superintendent) Ron Caniff did in the first part of my career with his belief in me, and then Roger’s belief in me as a district-level leader … To create a lasting legacy that when you come back 10, 15 years later, you can say, ‘I helped create that,’ that’s exciting to me.”
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