When Stephanie Klippert (Thayer), started her career as a teacher, she  never saw herself becoming an assistant principal and helping manage an entire school. But after receiving help from several faculty members last year, she had a successful first year.

“I expected this job to have a big learning curve because being in a classroom, you know what to expect. It’s a lot different when you’re on this side of it and managing the things coming at you all day long. I was a little nervous about learning the admin side of it, but as the year went on and having Dr. Montgomery, Mr. Naucke, and the counselors helping me get through the transition process to where I felt comfortable daily,” Klippert said.

Administrators knew that Klippert was fit for the job just from her experiences as a classroom teacher.

“I think Mrs. Klippert had the most experience. She had the education, the qualifications, and it takes a certain personality to be an administrator. She hit all of those checks,” Rachel Montgomery said.

With becoming a higher authority in the school, Klippert gained many responsibilities that she didn’t know were a part of the job.

Klippert said, “I think I’ve grown a lot in knowledge as to what goes on behind the scenes. There’s so many little things and decisions that have to be made that goes unseen. I’ve also grown a lot in being able to deal with difficult students, and parents, and having hard conversations with teachers. Just working on those things have helped me grow as a person and an administrator.”

After moving from a science teacher to an assistant principal, students saw Klippert in a different setting.

“I hear all the time that people think I’m intimidating, but I’m really not. Sometimes I just have nine hundred things going on in my head and I guess I may look that way, but it’s not intentional.  I do think students see me a little differently and that’s something I’ll have to work on this year,” Klippert said.

This chapter of her life has been challenging and rewarding, but she has made the most of it.

“The hardest part is seeing students make the same bad choices over and over again and you can’t get through to them. Then, the most rewarding is when they realize that what they are doing isn’t in their best interest and they should make different choices. I’m not here to be mean and to give out consequences because it’s not fun for me, but it is very fulfilling to see them have some personal growth,” Klippert said. 

Klippert has been able to remain stern as well as become someone students feel comfortable going to.

“I think some of her major strengths are that she builds great relationships with students. I think she programs exceptionally well for kids and she has a deep understanding of the curriculum and instruction,” said Montgomery.

Although teaching students everyday was a big part of her success, she has grown to love being an assistant principal through different aspects.

Klippert said, “I miss teaching chemistry every single day. I just love the content and love having that moment when students finally understand the material. But on the principal side of it, I get to see more of a personal growth with students social, emotional, and life choices which I do enjoy seeing that too. In the end we are all working towards the same goal and that’s to get students across the stage with a diploma in hand and reaching their potential before they leave.”

Since Klippert was a teacher for so long she gained qualities that helped her grow into an administrator.

Jason Naucke said, “She handled her classroom very well in terms of working with students and she always did a good job with communicating with parents. All the things you do as a teacher also gives you the tools that helps you as an administrator.”

Klippert has learned many things this past school year and can’t wait to watch students move on to the next step in their lives. 

Klippert said, “Being a principal has taught me both time management and information management. We get a lot of stuff thrown at us daily, sometimes multiple bits of information at one time, and you have to figure out how to manage all of it in the set amount of time that we have. There are so many amazing little things that made up a great school year, but my overall favorite was when I got to see students that I had in my classroom walk across the stage and shake their hand and just see them graduate. It was nice to go from teacher to administrator and see it all happen.”