Dr. Alexa (Gibbons) Allman

Dr. Alexa (Gibbons) Allman holds a bachelor’s degree from Washington State University, a master’s from Western Washington University and an Educational Doctorate from Washington State University. Before becoming Deer Park’s superintendent in 2023, she held various educational and administrative roles across different grade levels.

Leadership, for Dr. Alexa (Gibbons) Allman, has always been rooted in uplifting individuals around her. Throughout nearly three decades in teaching, school administration, HR and district leadership, helping students recognize their potential has been her anchor. Her superintendency has changed the education ecosystem in the rural district of Deer Park, which serves approximately 2800 students, in ways more than one.

The journey, however, was not devoid of setbacks. Allman stepped into the role amid a challenge that went deeper than limited access to external organizations, specialized services or system-level supports. Prevailing was an intense lack of trust between public schools and the community. The pandemic had deepened polarization and weakened faith in public education across the educational landscape of Washington State.

Allman’s foremost step was listening to the community voice before attempting to lead change. She sought difficult conversations and criticisms to outline a clearer direction for the district’s schools. She engaged with community members, educators, families and stakeholders to rebuild trust and create coherent systems, keeping academic, behavioral and social-emotional support for students at the center.

Summing up her approach, she says, “Leadership, to me, is not about creating followers. It is about helping others discover their own capacity.”

Reconnecting Schools and the Community

Allman recognized that relationships themselves are infrastructure. She joined Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce, developed relationships with faith leaders, chaired the local food bank, joined the historical society and attended community events. By pairing the collective community perspective with system data, including attendance, exclusionary discipline, state assessment results, graduation rates and kindergarten readiness, she uncovered the community’s shared expectation that its students must be learning and achieving.

As the next step, she facilitated a strategic planning process involving teachers, paraeducators, administrators, parents and community members. Four priorities were set. They were student and staff wellness and belonging, academic engagement, building bridges with parents and the community and addressing needs for safe facilities. The plan became the link between community voice and district action.

Allman is working to translate that strategic plan and shared direction into instructional practice. Leadership meetings that once centered heavily on operational matters now focus more on ensuring high-quality teaching and learning, strengthening professional learning communities (PLCs) and instructional leadership practices necessary to improve outcomes. Teacher teams identify essential standards, use common assessments and use that data to monitor student progress and determine appropriate instructional response.

“ Leadership, to me, is not about creating followers. It is about helping others discover their own capacity. “

Even equity, she ensures, is embedded into the system rather than a separate initiative. Allman is working to ensure every student at Deer Park has access to strong Tier I education irrespective of which classroom they enter. Allman ensures that level of inclusivity by having courageous conversations about students who have not been well served and what the institution can do differently. Her leadership welcomes disagreement while her guiding principle remains “all means all”. Every student belongs and deserves an opportunity to learn.

Strategies that Drive Visible Results

Early results provide evidence that, under Allman’s leadership, the district’s coherent approach is beginning to affect student learning. From fall to winter, reading data went up by 29 percent toward grade-level expectations, with a decline of 10 percent among students performing two or more grade levels below. Mathematics also showed 24 percent positive movement toward grade-level expectations and a 9 percent reduction among students performing significantly below grade level.

While the gains represent a single period, Allman strengthens her focus on the coherent approach to make sure the trajectory is sustained. Looking ahead, she continues to be dedicated to uniting the community around a shared objective of creating systems that give Deer Park’s students a stronger opportunity to learn.

The coherent, systematic evolution she has established by connecting community voice, strategic priorities, leadership development, instructional practice and student outcomes rightly earns Allman a prominent name among the Top 10 School Superintendents in Washington 2026.