This paper analyzes the school superintendent’s role as mediators of external change initiatives. At the heart of this analysis lies the observation of a series of state initiatives towards Norwegian municipalities at the purpose of changing and improving school practices and raising academic student achievements. This stream of state policies, paired with policy demands from the municipal school board, places the municipal school superintendent in the middle of multiple and often conflicting pressures. In theoretical terms, the superintendent role can be metaphorically understood as a mediator of multiple change initiatives towards school leaders and teachers. The paper is based on the Norwegian superintendent survey from 2009 supplemented with data from a similar school board survey of 2011. Findings from the two national surveys show that superintendents actively use both buffering and bridging strategies in their upwards and downwards relationships within the municipality organization. Empirical findings are analyzed in the light of middle management theory and implications for respectively further research, municipal leadership and local governance are discussed.