Teaching is a family affair for Herb Monroe III in more ways than one.

Surry County Public Schools’ new superintendent, who’s been on the job nearly four months, is the son of two longtime educators. His late father, Herb Jr., was principal of Laburnum Elementary School in Richmond. His mother, Annette Monroe-Martin, retired as principal of John Rolfe Middle School in Henrico County.

His pursuit of a tight-knit family vibe is also the reason Monroe last year traded his role as assistant superintendent of Caroline County Public Schools, where he oversaw five schools with a divisionwide enrollment of 4,500 students, for the challenge of running Surry’s smaller school system, which has just under 700 students enrolled across three schools.

Monroe, who described himself as a “people person,” said in a Jan. 15 interview with The Smithfield Times that he wanted to “know people as people and really build authentic relationships with students, so that I could help them to be successful not only in school but in life.”

“I think the way you do that is to know people by name, by face, by family,” Monroe said.

In Surry, Monroe said, “it is not unusual for someone’s grandmother, mother, aunt, uncle, child, niece, nephew and cousin to all be under one roof, including the bus driver. … It is such a great family atmosphere here that it really feels like home. I really feel like this is the place where God intended me to be.”

Monroe, who in 2012 earned his doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Virginia Tech, credits his parents with setting him on the path to pursue his own teaching career, even though they’d once warned him against following in their footsteps.

“They told me whatever you do, do not go into education; like all great kids, I listened to my parents,” Monroe said.

Monroe’s mother, a music major, started her career in 1967 – the year he was born – as a band director at Matoka High School in Chesterfield after graduating Hampton University.

“My parents didn’t have a lot of money as educators; instead of paying for a babysitter, my mom used to take me to school with her,” Monroe said.

There, he would run around the school’s band room playing with the various instruments and meeting students all day. Today, Monroe is a drummer on the side. His father would also play gigs on the side as a saxophone player.

“The excitement that I saw my parents embed in students was something that intrigued me because my parents seemed like adults that kids gravitated to, and it was like they were better kids because they had interacted with my parents,” Monroe said.

Monroe described his father as a “pillar of the community” who over Thanksgiving and winter breaks would go to Essex Village, a low-income housing complex, to give out hats, gloves, backpacks, and cereal to the neighborhood’s children.

Monroe had been living and teaching in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when Herb Jr. died in 1998 at age 56, one year before he would have retired from Laburnum. The loss brought Monroe back to Virginia.

“Last year, I dedicated the whole year to my dad and what was crazy was I was announced as the new superintendent for Surry County Public Schools in October and I turned 57 in November, just three months ago,” Monroe said. “It has been a great year for me in that the year I dedicated to my father was also the same year that I reached my goal to become a superintendent.”

Monroe said he’d interviewed for superintendent positions five times prior to being chosen to lead Surry. He recalls talking with Surry School Board Chairwoman Laura Ruffin and the board for nearly 30 minutes before they got around to the formal interview.

“I think the board and I knew right away that it was a perfect match,” Monroe said.

When the board introduced Monroe as former Superintendent Serbrenia Sims’ successor in October, he recalls Ruffin had remarked, “God saved him for us.”

“I will never forget that,” Monroe said.

Since taking the reins at Surry, Monroe has completed a 90-day “look, listen and learn” tour to meet students and employees, community stakeholders and faith groups and the county Board of Supervisors.

Monroe said his goals, based on that tour, include getting all three Surry schools to “distinguished” status under Virginia’s new school ranking system. Surry County High School is already on track to achieve that status according to preliminary rankings the Virginia Department of Education released last fall to provide school divisions with a preview of how their schools would perform based on current data under the new system set to take effect at the start of the 2025-26 school year, which is more heavily weighted on each school’s performance on Virginia’s Standards of Learning tests. Surry’s other two schools – Surry Elementary and Luther Porter Jackson Middle – would be rated as “on track,” the second-highest ranking under the new system based on current data.

His other priorities include working with the Board of Supervisors to increase teacher pay, ensuring social and emotional health support for students and making sure all graduating seniors are “three-E ready,” which refers to enrollment in a two- or four-year college, enlistment in the military or employment upon leaving the school system.