Originally published on August 13, 2025.
Raised in Richfield, Utah, and a graduate of Richfield High School, Dr. Cade Douglas has stayed loyal to his hometown roots. From kindergarten to his position now as superintendent of the Sevier School District, and Utah 2024 Superintendent of the Year, Cade has truly shown his love for Sevier through his career.
Born into a family of educators—Cade’s mother being a third-grade teacher and father a high school principal—Cade was raised to have a love of learning.
“I loved the tradition of educational excellence SUU had for teachers! I loved the class sizes, community, and that my parents were alumni,” he says of his decision to attend SUU.
Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and Spanish in 1999, Cade also earned a master's degree in education, with an administrative endorsement/license and a level I reading endorsement. He later earned his Ph.D. in both philosophy and instructional and curriculum leadership at Northcentral University, in Prescott, Arizona.
Cade’s time at SUU and the relationships he built with his professors, classmates, and coworkers shaped him into who he is today.
“I learned how to learn at SUU and how to learn both efficiently and effectively,” he says. “I learned that there are good people in the world that want to help you succeed and that we are all capable of more than we believe we are. I am super proud of my SUU roots.”
The teaching and learning skills that Cade developed at SUU are foundational to his life and career today. With just under 5,000 students, Sevier Districts houses three preschools, five elementary schools, three middle schools, three high schools, and an alternative high school. The approximately 700 employees—including 12 principals and seven counselors—have helped a majority of students make typical or above typical progress through the school year. And in 2023, Sevier District elementary school students performed above the state average in every area in the Utah RISE assessments.
After being selected as Sevier School District Superintendent in 2013, all these events occurred under Cade’s guidance, as well as his experience being a teacher in elementary and middle school, as well as college, and serving as both an elementary and secondary school principal, literary coach, and district level administrator, it is no wonder that he was chosen to be the 2024 Utah Superintendent of the Year.
“Over the course of my 26-year career I have seen students accomplish amazing things,” he says. “I am also very proud to be associated and work shoulder to shoulder with what I believe are the best teachers, principals, and support staff in the world.”
Cade and his wife Marissa are the parents of four, and grandparents of one. They enjoy camping and fly fishing with their loved ones.
