Leaming Returns to PCPS

May 12, 2021 – Pending approval from the Ponca City Board of Education, Adam Leaming will be joining TEAM PCPS on July 1, 2021, as the Executive Director of Operations Intern.

Leaming is onboarding as an intern to develop a thorough understanding of the District’s extensive facilities under the mentorship of Bret Smith, the current Executive Director of Operations. Bret has served in this position for the past 14 years but has been with PCPS for 33 years. He has a retirement date pending at some point during the 2021-2022 school year.

Leaming currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of the University Center of Ponca City, a position he has held since 2013. During his time at the UC, he has been responsible for the short-term and long-term development of educational programs and their implementation in Ponca City. He raised nearly $70,000 in scholarships during last year’s annual fundraiser for the UC and received an $85,000 grant in 2018 from Phillips66 for 3D printers and LEGO robotics.

Leaming is no stranger to serving in an administrative role for PCPS. He was principal of West Middle School from 2010-2012 and served as assistant principal at WMS from 2007-2010.

He is a graduate of Newkirk High School and received his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in 2003. He received his master’s degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 2006 and has earned 27 hours towards receiving his doctorate degree in educational leadership and policy studies from Oklahoma State University.

Leaming is very active in the Ponca City community. He is the current treasurer of the Ponca City Chamber of Commerce and a board member on the Phillips66 Community Advisory Committee. He is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma and has served on various boards throughout the community, including Ponca City Rotary, Marland Estate Foundation, Standing Bear Native American Museum Foundation Board, Oklahoma Small Business Development Council Advisory Board, Council of Oklahoma Extended Campus Administrators and more.

“This opportunity to join the dynamic leadership team of Ponca City Public Schools is extremely humbling and thrilling. My wife and I are blown away than this opportunity allows us to remain in our community we love and lay down deeper roots for us and our three children,” said Leaming., “Knowing that I was being set up for success and having an opportunity to work alongside a visionary cornerstone with Ponca City Public Schools, like Bret Smith, was too great of an opportunity to pass up,”

Superintendent Shelley Arrott stated, “With Bret Smith’s pending retirement, the Executive Director of Operations Intern role is the perfect opportunity for Adam Leaming to develop a broad understanding, with Bret’s mentorship, of our more than one million square feet of PCPS property. Adam is a wonderful leader, a great communicator, and deeply invested in our community. His love for PCPS and Ponca City and the vast knowledge he already has of the District will serve him well as Executive Director of Operations. We are certainly excited to welcome him back to Ponca City Public Schools and look forward to him enhancing our team. Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat!”

“Adam Leaming is a wonderful leader. I worked with him when he served as principal at West Middle School several years ago, and we have maintained a great relationship over the years,” said Smith. “Adam is a community leader with ties to the Ponca City Chamber of Commerce, higher education and common education. His personality is contagious with his wit and bigger than life smile. I look forward to working with him in the next several months.”

“This feels like coming home,” said Leaming. “While the UC helped me flourish within our community and state, PCPS instilled in me the love for education, students and leadership. I’m thrilled to be back in the system that has given so much to me. I’m ready to help take the baton and build on Shelley’s vision for the district.”

“Given the chance to work with Superintendent Shelley Arrott and share her passion for the students and staff of our community while promoting and advocating for continued academic success speaks to every fiber in my being. I believe each day begins with an intention to help remove barriers to provide the highest quality educational opportunities for the ones we serve.”