Montana Western Alumnus Dustin Gordon Named 2026-27 Montana Superintendent of the Year

Dustin Gordon, the superintendent of Fairfield Public Schools, was named the 2026–27 Montana Superintendent of the Year by the Montana Association of School Superintendents, the organization announced Oct. 15 in Billings, Choteau Acantha reported.

The award puts a spotlight on a career that stretches more than three decades in Montana public education, 20 of those years spent in Fairfield, and it sends Gordon to Atlanta in February to represent the state on the national stage. For a small district of a few hundred students west of Great Falls, the honor is a rare moment in the spotlight.

A Career Built in Montana Classrooms

Gordon’s path runs through the same hallways where he once stood as a student. Raised in Seeley Lake as the son of two longtime teachers, he developed what he has described as an early appreciation for the role public schools play in a community’s strength and identity. He graduated from Western Montana College in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, majoring in English with a minor in mathematics, and later completed a master’s degree in school administration from the University of Montana in 2009, Choteau Acantha reported.

He began his career as a teacher and coach in Sheridan, then moved to Chester, where his duties expanded to include athletic and transportation administration, student services, and teacher leadership. Gordon and his family relocated to Fairfield in 2006, where he has worked as a teacher, elementary principal, secondary principal, and, for the past six years, superintendent.

Montana Western Alumnus Dustin Gordon Named 2026-27 Montana Superintendent of the Year — Photo: choteauacantha.com

Along the way, he built a parallel coaching career that few administrators match. His girls’ basketball teams at Sheridan, Chester, and Fairfield high schools won multiple state championships, he earned several Montana Coaches Association Coach of the Year awards, and his 104-game winning streak set a Montana record at the time, Montana Western noted.

What the Award Recognizes

As superintendent, Gordon has overseen accomplishments that go well beyond athletics. Both Fairfield’s elementary school and high school have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools, and the district has expanded career and technical education, dual credit, and work-based learning opportunities, NewsBreak reported.

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He has also sought outside funding to expand those programs while shielding local taxpayers: roughly $1.185 million in federal funding for three electric school buses and $315,500 generated through Montana’s Innovative Educational Program, according to Choteau Acantha.

“I am still trying to take it all in,” Gordon said after receiving the award. “It is certainly one of the greatest professional honors I have received, but I also know that an award like this reflects much more than the work of one person.”

Gordon was quick to spread the credit. He pointed to an outstanding administrative team, a supportive board, excellent teachers and staff, and a community that cares deeply about its school.

“As superintendent, my name may sometimes be attached to the accomplishments, but the success really belongs to all of those people working together,” he said.

What Comes Next in Atlanta

Gordon was first selected as the Regional Superintendent of the Year for the North Central region by his fellow superintendents; each regional winner then advanced through the state and AASA application process. His application now moves to the AASA National Superintendent of the Year program.

Fairfield Superintendent Dustin Gordon Named Montana's Top School Leader For 2026-2027 — Photo: newsbreak.com

The AASA National Conference on Education will be held Feb. 25–27, 2027, in Atlanta, Georgia, where state Superintendents of the Year from across the country will be recognized. AASA selects four national finalists in December, conducts interviews in Washington, D.C., in January, and announces the National Superintendent of the Year at the Atlanta conference.

“Regardless of what happens from here, I am really looking forward to representing Fairfield Schools and Montana and having the opportunity to learn from school leaders from across the country,” Gordon said.

Whether or not he advances to the national final four, the state-level honor already carries weight back home: it validates a district that has paired academic recognition with hands-on career pathways, and it gives Montana’s rural school leaders a voice at the largest gathering of superintendents in the country. Who will ultimately be named the 2027 National Superintendent of the Year remains an open question until February.

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