For Ryan Matsook, being an educator has always been about building relationships. Over a 26 year career that has included stops as a teacher, principal, and administrator, Matsook stresses that any of his successes wouldn’t be possible without strong relationships with staff and students.  

As Matsook starts his new position — the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment at the Duquesne City School District — Matsook will do so with an open mind, a listening ear, and, of course, a focus on building strong relationships inside of the school building and with the surrounding community.  

“That’s a large part of instruction. You have to have relationships with the kids and relationships with the community. A culture has to exist if there’s going to be any type of success,” said Matsook.  

“I’ve had a background in curriculum and instruction and have been in administration for a while. I’m excited to get started.”  

Matsook comes from a family of educators. His father, Dan, is the Chief Recovery Officer for the Penn Hills School District and former superintendent at the Central Valley School District.  

Matsook’s career in education started as a teacher at Ambridge. He spent time in administration at Beaver Falls, Western Beaver, Moon, and — most recently — Pittsburgh Bridges Academy, before taking a job at Duquesne City. Beyond education, Matsook is a former high school football coach, having won a WPIAL and PIAA championship at Beaver Falls.  

“My dad was a teacher and a coach and that’s what I became, as well. He moved into administration and I followed suit. He’s been a guiding force, a mentor, and I’ve always taken his advice to lead me in the right direction professionally, but also understanding where your strengths lie,” said Matsook.

“Through my dad and my connections at the AIU, Duquesne has always had a wonderful reputation, just hearing things about (superintendent) Dr. (Sue) Mariani, about the programs that have been instilled here.”  

Over the years, Matsook has grown quite a bit and learned a lot. Each stop has provided an opportunity to improve as an educator and administrator. At Beaver Falls, Matsook said he was hyper-focused on building strong relationships with students. At Western Beaver, he learned to balance a number of different roles, while developing a keen understanding of how each role and each decision trickles down to other areas. At Moon, he sharpened his skills in implementing curriculum and instruction with fidelity. Finally, at Pittsburgh Bridges Academy, he heightened his knowledge of social and emotional learning, and its importance in the school system.  

Experience gained has allowed Matsook to keenly understand a multitude of different landscapes, and how he fits into them.  

“At each stop I’ve learned something,” said Matsook. “Not only did I think it was exciting as an opportunity to make a difference at Duquesne, but just to be involved with a district that is doing a lot of cutting edge things from an educational standpoint. It’s definitely exciting and I’m just trying to learn the lay of the land and understand how things work.”  

His biggest strength, Matsook believes, is building a strong culture amongst staff and students.  

“Collectively a lot of people have their strengths. I might not know the answer but I know where to find the answer. Just as a team, understanding who the leaders are on your team and just trying to build capacity within the system. You can’t do everything, you can’t be everywhere, you have to have good people around you and build a cohesive unit to be consistent and have an understanding of what the expectation is,” Matsook said.  

“I feel like that’s a strength over the years, getting a keen understanding of how to really utilize the people around you so you can be collectively pulling the rope in the same direction. But it hasn’t always been. You get it through trial and error. Some of the things along the way that might be pitfalls shape you and make you and it allows you to reflect.”  

For now, Matsook will largely be focused on learning the lay of the land, making a concerted effort to truly learn about the teachers — and staff as whole — in the building. He’s excited to dig into the work, interject with his lived experience over the years, and see how he can best make a difference in providing Duquesne City students a high-quality education.  

“My goal is to learn the lay of the land and figure out where I can help and how I can not only enhance the culture but be a part of it,” Matsook said. “In my role I look forward to making collaborative relationships with the teachers and administration here and being someone they can trust and come to, and we can work together to see growth out of every kid that walks through our doors.”