His title may be different, but his core values remain the same.

With his first few weeks as superintendent of Tamaqua Area School District in the rearview mirror, Raymond J. Kinder took some time recently to reflect on his new position.Kinder said the district had a solid start to the school year when classes got underway.“It went really well,” Kinder said. “I think our students are back and ready to learn, and our teachers are back and ready to teach.”While things went about as smoothly as possible, Kinder said the start of a new school year always brings with it challenges.“When you have five buildings, 2,000 students, and 1,000 computers, there’s going to be some glitches,” he said. “I’d like to thank the faculty, staff and board.”Deep-seated rootsKinder graduated from Tamaqua Area High School in 1989.He comes from a family of educators, as both his father and mother served in education.His father, the late Raymond C. Kinder, served as Tamaqua’s assistant superintendent, and later superintendent, until his retirement.His mother, Joanne P. Kinder, is a retired English teacher.GoalsIn March, the board appointed Kinder to the post to replace former Superintendent Carol Makuta, whose retirement was approved, effective Aug. 26.Before that, Kinder had been the district’s assistant superintendent since February 2008.He was originally hired by the district as a health and physical education teacher in 1994. He became assistant high school principal in 1999, and was hired as high school principal in 2001.At the time of his appointment, Kinder said, “As a school district, we must continue to do all we can to meet the needs of our diverse student population. We must provide support to those that require it and challenge students to accomplish great things. Issues outside of the school setting that affect the operation of schools are always a challenge.”Kinder said the objective is to provide students with an academic learning environment where they can succeed so that when they leave the district, they’re ready to enter college, the work force or the military.“You try to prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead so they can achieve their potential,” he said.Period of transitionKinder noted the district has “recently been going through lots of transitions in the administrative staff.”In addition to Kinder’s promotion, coupled with Makuta’s retirement, the board in April appointed former high school Principal Stephen P. Toth as assistant superintendent.The board in May appointed former high school Assistant Principal Thomas McCabe as high school principal.Then in June, the board appointed Ray Lenhart as assistant high school principal. Lenhart has been the principal at Behavioral Health Associates in Lehighton.Kinder said the fact that the district has promoted from within to fill various administrative ranks speaks volumes.“I don’t anticipate there being a huge learning curve. As assistant superintendent, I got to experience some of these things firsthand,” he said. “I don’t think I’m going to run into any shocking things. The benefit of being assistant superintendent is that the board, administration and faculty get familiar with you.”