Dear East Granby Families, Staff, and Community,

I am absolutely delighted to share that Joshua T. Martin has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of East Granby Public Schools!

For those who have had the opportunity to work with Josh, this appointment makes perfect sense. He is one of those rare leaders who can keep the big picture in view while somehow also noticing the details that make everything work.

And, as it turns out, Josh has been preparing for operations leadership for most of his life!

His professional journey began with more than eight years of service in the United States Air Force, where he worked as a munitions systems specialist and deployed overseas in support of major military operations. He then built a career in education that has taken him from the classroom and special education to district leadership in Hebron, East Haddam, and East Granby. Along the way, he earned his Superintendent Certification from the University of Connecticut and became a recognized leader in special education across Connecticut.

Today, Josh serves as President-Elect of the Connecticut Council of Administrators of Special Education (ConnCASE) and was recently appointed by Governor Ned Lamont to the Blue-Ribbon Commission on K–12 Education Funding and Accountability, helping bring the perspective of students, families, special education, and small school districts like ours to an important statewide conversation.

In other words, Josh understands systems—but he also understands people. And that combination matters enormously.

As COO, Josh will continue his leadership of Student Support Services while taking on expanded responsibility for the operations that keep our district running every day, including facilities, transportation, business operations, human resources, and food services.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention another significant piece of his preparation for this role: Josh is the father of three daughters, which I suspect has required its own impressive amount of logistics, diplomacy, budgeting, transportation, and strategic planning!

More importantly, Josh is simply a wonderful person to work beside. He is smart, calm, funny, hardworking, and deeply committed to our students and our community. I trust his judgment, value his partnership, and am genuinely thrilled that East Granby gets to benefit from even more of his leadership.

Please join me in celebrating Josh and congratulating him on this very well-deserved next chapter.

We are so lucky to have you, Josh!

Together, to the Stars.

Warmly,

Suzanne M. Palmieri

Superintendent of Schools