Dr. James Weaver

     Dr. James Weaver is the Director of Performing Arts and Sports for the National Federation of High School State Associations. Originally from Aberdeen, SD, Dr. Weaver is a 2001 graduate of Aberdeen (SD) Central High School. He has been a teacher and administrator at the district, state, and national level.

Dr. Weaver began his tenure at the NFHS in 2016 as the director of performing arts and sports with the charge of increasing participation, professional development, and awareness of performing arts activities throughout the nation’s high schools. He has created partnerships with several national arts organizations to create a robust advocacy network. He has formed several committees to create professional development courses for music and speech adjudicators, new music teachers and contest managers, as well as safety programs for marching band and theater use.  The NFHS created the standard for copyright education and compliance under Dr. Weaver’s leadership with the creation of the NFHS Copyright and Compliance Learn Course and the Copyright Compliance Database.

As the district administrator of the fine and performing arts programs for the Sioux Falls schools, Dr. Weaver administered the K-12 curriculum for music, visual arts, speech, debate, theatre, journalism, student council and special education adaptive arts. He was responsible for 140 staff members across 37 buildings, rewriting of the K-12 fine arts curriculum and a multi-million-dollar budget.

Before he joined the Sioux Falls schools in August 2015, Dr. Weaver was assistant executive director in charge of fine arts for the South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) for four years. In addition to handling four all-state music ensembles, speech, debate, theatre, journalism and student council, Dr. Weaver started a visual arts component within the SDHSAA. He also transferred all of the association’s music programs to an online ballot system, which increased the speed and improved the accuracy of the music adjudication processes.

During his time with the SDHSAA and the Sioux Falls schools, Dr. Weaver contributed to several NFHS programs. He served a four-year term on the NFHS Music Committee and began another term as chair of the committee. He also has been involved with the annual Debate Topic Selection Committee process and has contributed to development of new online performing arts courses for the NFHS Learning Center.

Dr. Weaver began his professional career in 2005 as director of orchestras for the Perham (Minnesota) Public Schools for two years, followed by a four-year stint as director of orchestras for the Aberdeen (South Dakota) Public Schools. Under his leadership, the Aberdeen program grew to record levels, and his orchestras have consistently been given high marks at local and regional contests. In 2011 Dr. Weaver was named “Outstanding Arts Educator” by the Aberdeen Area Arts Council.

Dr. Weaver earned a bachelor of music degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, a master’s degree in educational administration and leadership from Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and his doctorate in school district administration and educational leadership from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota. He lives in Plainfield, IN with his wife Katie, sons Andrew (13) and Cooper (12), and daughter Natalie (7).