VOLGA Former Brookings High School Principal Justin Stanley is the new administrator at Volga Christian School.
We feel lucky Justin made the decision to come to us, Ricki Boyle, revenue treasurer and school board member at Volga Christian, said. I had a friend reach out to me and said, I know youre still looking for an administrator, and I know a family leaving Brookings High School. I didnt think wed be able to get him, but I said If you have a phone number or email, I will cold call him.
Stanley said hes glad Boyle reached out to him.
What drew me to Volga Christian School is its strong sense of faith, community and commitment to developing each student both spiritually and academically, he said. Im excited for the opportunity to lead a school where relationships and connection are at the heart of learning. When students know theyre seen, supported and truly cared for, they thrive in ways that go far beyond test scores.
Boyle said teachers at Volga Christian had been advocating for a new administrator position.
We conducted stay and exit interviews with our staff , she said. Through that process, we put together a distinct list of needs from the teachers. A lot of those needs were telling us that we needed an administrator with a strong education background.
Stanley served one year at BHS. The Brookings School Board terminated his contract June 27 after an executive session meeting. In a July 1 statement to the Brookings Register, Stanley said, The issue at hand was incomplete teacher evaluations, something I take full responsibility for.
Prior to coming to Brookings, Stanley spent six years as principal of Harvey High in Harvey, North Dakota. He holds a masters in curriculum and instruction from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Stanley said hes pleased the course of his career has led to Volga Christian.
My path into education has been shaped by both challenge and grace, he said. I bring a heart for servant leadership, a love for kids and a desire to make a lasting impact. Its a privilege to walk this journey with the students, staff and families of Volga Christian.
Boyle said Stanley brings with him a wealth of experience.
Technically he was overqualified for what we were looking for which was fantastic, Boyle said. He had all of the right experience that we were looking for in terms of his history in the principal and leadership roles. He was comfortable and had experience leading in much larger settings than ours.
She said Volga Christian currently has around 65 students.
He will be the administrator for us; that is his technical title, Boyle said. Its going to be a lot of curriculum design and implementation, data collection and recording to see where our students are at. Its going to be anything disciplinary at the administrative level, and its going to be support roles for teachers.
She said until now school board members had been doing that work.
As the board took on administrative duties, that took away from our ability to do marketing, grant-finding and things that can go towards growth efforts, Boyle said. That slowed us down a bit. But now with Justin Stanley in place, were going to take those things to the moon.
She said Volga Christian has a long-range plan.
We are just pre-K through eighth grade, Boyle said. The five-year growth plan would be to grow the school to where we dont have dual classrooms. All classrooms from first to eighth grade are dual. If we have a teacher whos teaching first grade, theyre also teaching second grade. Wed like to split those dual classrooms, and then wed love to add ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth for sure.
She encouraged interested families to check out their website volgachristianschool.org.
We do open enroll all year round, Boyle said. After the enrollment date at the beginning of August, well pretty much accept anybody. Weve had families move into the area and want to come to school, even in March. Once you get passed March though, its a bit more case-by-case whether the student would be best finishing school where they are.
Registration day at Volga Christian is Aug. 4, and students start classes Aug. 19. Boyle said shes excited to see the school year start with Stanley at the helm.
It is going to be an amazing fit. Theres no doubt about it, Boyle said. He is the direct answer to many prayers that have been going on at the school for many years.
Stanley said hes ready to get to work.
Im honored to work alongside a dedicated staff and build on the great things already happening here, he said. My goal is to support each team member in growing their strengths and creating an even more dynamic, student-centered environment.
Contact Jay Roe at [email protected].
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