Keenan appointed superintendent
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published June 6, 2007

The public will have a chance to meet Daniel J. Keenan Jr., appointed last Friday as the Westlake Schools next superintendent, this Monday between 7 and 8 p.m. The Westlake Board of Education will hold a reception for Keenan in the lobby of the Westlake Schools Performing Arts Center, adjacent to Westlake High School at 27830 Hilliard Road, after its next board meeting.

Keenan, who has served for the past five years as assistant superintendent of the Kenston Local Schools district in Geauga County, said he intends to build on the curriculum already established in the district, as well as promote and support involvement in extracurricular activities.

 “I’m committed to continuing what I think are excellent practices, including utilizing resources wisely to maximize student achievement,” Keenan said in a released statement. “I am very excited to be a part of what’s been going on at Westlake, and honored to be the person selected to lead the students and stakeholders to fulfill our mission.”

 Keenan said Westlake’s commitment to excellence, stable financial condition and continuous improvement plan attracted him to the position.

 In addition to his administrative experience at the Kenston district, which encompasses Auburn and Bainbridge townships, Keenan served as a high school administrator and director of personnel for the Maple Heights City Schools, as a teacher and director of guidance for the Steubenville City Schools, and as a junior high and elementary teacher in Indiana.

Keenan earned a doctorate in education administration from Cleveland State University and completed graduate work for principal and assistant superintendent certification at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He earned both his master’s in education administration and his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Purdue University.

 Keenan comes from a family of educators. His father was a superintendent. His mother was a university department head for undergraduate education. His brother is superintendent of the Maple Heights School District. And his wife, Heather, is currently the gifted coordinator for Aurora City Schools.

School board President Renee D’Ettorre Wargo said all of Keenan’s colleagues contacted during the selection process provided consistently outstanding references.

“He seems to be a very solid individual with high integrity,” D’Ettorre Wargo told West Life. “I just think he’s going to steer the district to even higher levels of achievement.”

The board interviewed seven finalists out of a pool of 46 applicants. Keenan visited the district May 21 to meet with and answer questions from the public during the board’s regular meeting. He also met with district administrators and staff members earlier that day.

D’Ettorre Wargo told Westlake the board planned to invite a second candidate to meet with community members and district employees, but that candidate withdrew his application after deciding he did not want to relocate to the Westlake area.

Keenan was awarded a three-year contract with an annual salary of $130,000. The vote to choose Keenan was unanimous.

 “There were a number of candidates with excellent credentials,” D’Ettorre Wargo said, “but in the end analysis, we felt Dan’s collaborative style, his outgoing nature and contagious enthusiasm, his focus on providing a quality educational experience for all children and his excellent communications skills tipped the scale in his favor. We put a lot of time and thought into the process, and we are convinced we made an excellent choice.”

James Costanza, who has served as Westlake superintendent since August 1998, will retire at the end of the current school year.