CAMDEN, NY — Camden Central School District Principal Dr. Ravo Root announced his retirement effective July 31, 2025, and confirmed his plans at the District Board of Education’s last November meeting.

According to the press release, Root will retire after seven years of service to the district and 13 years as Superintendent in two different districts. He served as a teacher or administrator throughout his entire professional career of over thirty years.

Root’s career began as a teacher at Cortland Alternative High School; He later taught in the East Syracuse-Minoa School District and served as Assistant Principal. Following this, he moved to Western New York to serve as the Principal of Pioneer Middle School, which was recognized as both a NYS and National School to Watch, and later rose to the role of Superintendent in the Fillmore Central School District. before returning to serve as a superintendent in the Camden area.

“The opportunity to lead the Camden Central School District has been one of the greatest honors of my career,” Root said in the news release. “I join a student-centered team where the support for our students is contagious and the enthusiasm of our entire school community shines through in the experiences we create for students and families every day.

“Our dedication and commitment to our students and providing them with the best educational experiences has always been our top priority.”

Since joining the Camden District in July 2018, Root has overseen numerous initiatives under his leadership, including:

– development, implementation and oversight of a capital project totaling more than $35 million that includes safety and security improvements, athletic facility improvements and updated learning spaces.

– Implementation of the Multi-Tier Support System framework for redeploying School Patrol Officers and targeted student intervention in partnership with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office.

– Implementation of the Character Education Curriculum that Captures Children’s Hearts, for which McConnellsville Elementary School has been recognized as one of the organization’s “National Showcase Schools,” a designation for schools with exemplary culture and climate. It also helped increase the number of school counselors and social workers while partnering to bring outside organizations such as the Neighborhood Center and the Social Service Center into schools.
Family Life and Recovery and mental health screening opportunities through the BIMAS II Assessment.

– Earning National/New York State “Schools to Watch” designation by Camden Middle School and initiating community partnerships to meet the basic needs of students and families, including Connected Community Schools and Mosaic Dental.

– Establishing a high-needs early childhood program in addition to regular programming for two- and three-year-olds to develop basic skills in the transition to pre-kindergarten.

– offering expanded dual credit and internship opportunities for students;
School-to-work transition program with International Wire Group and the addition of new extracurricular activities such as FFA, Clay Target Team, Girls Wrestling and Unified Bowling, Basketball and Fine Arts.

– the successful passage of the school budget for six consecutive years and a new quarterly newsletter, a new website and mobile app.

“I want to thank our Board of Education members, past and present, for their support and efforts to do the best we can for our students,” Root said. “I would also like to thank our entire Camden CSD team for their relentless pursuit of excellence and for being like a second family to me. When a group of people who are passionate about our children come together, we can accomplish a lot and still have a lot of fun along the way.

“I will miss working with this group, but now it’s time to start the next chapter of life.”

The Camden district began a process to recruit and select Root’s replacement.