Miranda Reed was named the new superintendent of Lyon County by the district’s school board in April. Photo courtesy Miranda Reed
Miranda Reed, the new superintendent of Lyon County, is continuing a family tradition of working in the district, following in the footsteps of three generations of educators.
Her grandfather, Jason White, was the superintendent of Lyon County for 20 years. Reed said he built a house right next to the district’s board of education building, which he also built. When Reed moved to Lyon County to become the district’s director of special education in 2022, her family purchased the home her grandfather built.
“Now his granddaughter is sitting in the seat that he sat in as superintendent,” Reed said. “My mom was a teacher here, my grandmother was a librarian, and my aunt was the principal and supervisor of instruction.”
Reed is the first female superintendent of Lyon County. She said it was always her goal to work at Lyon County and it’s where she wants her kids to attend.
“I think it’s the greatest place to grow up and the greatest school system to be a part of, and so I’m truly just grateful for this opportunity to lead,” she said.
Reed has worked in education for 18 years. She started as a high school special education teacher in Graves County and later served the district as a special education consultant. Then she served as director of special education and preschool for Mayfield Independent. Reed was named West Kentucky Distinguished Administrator of the Year by the West Kentucky Community and Technical College in 2023.
Reed grew up in Lyon County and graduated from Lyon County High School. She said she wanted to move back home and the timing worked out for her to become director of special education in the district in 2022.
She has a master’s degree in special education, learning and behavior disorders; a second master’s degree in special education, moderate to severe disabilities; and an education specialist degree from Murray State University.
“I think it’s rare for a superintendent to have expertise in the area of special education,” Reed said. “I think it will be wonderful that I can truly support our staff with special education, (Section) 504 (coordinators) and the general education teachers, even students who may be in response to intervention.”
Reed said she hopes to build on the established success of the district and help usher in several new employees in key positions, helping everyone transition to a new leadership team. She said she’s excited to collaborate and hear fresh perspectives.
“I’m most excited about working with our principals and teachers and staff, our families, our board of education, to continue putting our students first every day and empowering our educators, supporting them and really just taking the place that we’re in right now and growing,” Reed said.
Reed said the district has a new local accountability system and her leadership team will be working more on local accountability and building upon the portrait of a learner for Lyon County.
“My hope is that I can really champion our students, but also our staff; from small victories to large victories,” she said. “I am an enthusiast, I am high energy and I love to celebrate, so I’m most looking forward to being visible, being in the classrooms and celebrating what great things our staff are doing – from our school food service, to maintenance, to transportation, to the classroom – because I truly believe it takes every department to make our school successful.”
Reed’s favorite part about Lyon County is that the district is a close-knit community, and she wants to continue building relationships with those she serves.
“Our community is very involved, and I think it’s something that we excel at here in Lyon County, and I want to build upon that,” she said. “I think building relationships with our students, knowing our students, knowing their families and building those strong connections, I really believe is what’s going to help us to progress and move even further along.”
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