PORTSMOUTH — Scott Dutey will celebrate his 44th birthday on Thursday and a new job the next month. That’s when he takes over the reins of the Portsmouth City Schools as its new superintendent.

Dutey was named to the post last week beating out 20 applicants to lead the 2,000-student city district.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity,” he said from his home Wednesday morning.

Dutey took over the post of curriculum and grants coordinator at Portsmouth a year ago.

“They really welcomed me from day one,” he said. “I really had an enjoyable year and the year allowed me to look at the district and see the strengths and weaknesses we need to concentrate on.”

Among the top items on Dutey’s agenda for the upcoming school year is instituting a dual credit option for top students where they will get both high school and college credits for the classes taught on the Portsmouth campus. He estimates 20 to 25 percent of the student body would qualify. These classes would be taught by Portsmouth teachers who have their master’s degree in the subject or by instructors from Shawnee State University.

“This will be new for the fall,” he said. “I think many times we tend to focus and home in on the students who are struggling. Our high achievers are left behind. We assume they are getting what they need. I don’t think that is right. We need to challenge them as much as the other students and that will be a focus.”

Dutey also wants to improve the district’s test scores and to expand classroom technology.

“We want to put Smart Boards in every content,” he said.

Right now Smart Boards are only used in math classes.

Also in the upcoming school year Portsmouth pre-school classes will be part of a pilot program for the Fast Forward reading intervention program, based in Oakland, Calif.

“We will pilot for them over the next year with their preschool component, which hasn’t been done,” Dutey said. “They created it and we were asked to pilot for our students.”

Dutey came to Portsmouth from the Dawson-Bryant School District where he served as a classroom teacher, building principal and assistant superintendent. He earned a bachelor’s in English from Marshall University, a master’s in education administration from Ohio University and his superintendent certification from Ashland University.

“We want to challenge our students and take those students who are high achievers and expand what we offer them,” he said. “We want to prepare all our students for the future.”