GURLEY/DALTON -- Leyton School District's new superintendent is most of the way through his first year.

Matt McLaughlin, started his duties as superintendent in July 2022. He has spent the time learning about the Leyton communities and the schools. He tries to be as involved as possible in day to day education of students, while still be the District's administrator.

"What's really cool about Leyton is there are a lot of great opportunities," McLaughlin said.

He calls Leyton a great school district, not just a good district.

"Leyton is a great place to go to school. We like to think of it as 'when you're here, you're family'," he said.

McLaughlin calls himself a "Panhandle kid," having grown up in Scottsbluff and graduating in 2001. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he also met his wife Laura. After earning his teaching degree, he took a position with a school district in Wichita, Kan.  He has since earned a degree in Education Leadership, and worked in the Bayard schools as an elementary principal. 

During that time, he worked with Travis Miller who he credits with empowering staff to take risks. They developed an after-school program and a pre-school program.