An opportunity 20 years ago afforded Brad Ross the chance to begin his career in education at Warrenton High School. Having struggled to find a placement for his student teaching hours, he landed at WHS and has never looked back.

When school returns to session in August, Ross will take over as the new head principal. He was chosen from a pool of around 20 applicants, with a decision made final during last week’s Warren County R-III School Board meeting.

“We’re excited to have Brad join the high school in a leadership role,” said Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith. “We think he’ll do a wonderful job. What stands out to me is his commitment to the community and families in the district.”

Ross replaces Dr. Loraine Raziq, who chose to transition to a different role in the district after three years as high school principal. She will now be a teacher at the Alpha Academy to allow more time for family commitments.

Ross has spent his entire professional career in the R-III District, serving the first 10 years as an English teacher at the high school.

He next moved into a curriculum coordinator role, before transitioning into an instructional technology coach. He’s spent the last four years serving as assistant principal at Black Hawk Middle School.

“I have so much gratitude for the opportunity that Black Hawk has given me for the past four years, to get a taste of administration and be involved in everything taking place,” said Ross. “The staff here has been supportive beyond anything expected.”

Ross says there’s something sort of “poetic” about his journey, having come full circle in the district. He returns to the same building he walked in as an eager student teacher two decades ago out of Truman State University.

“The high school appeals to me, because it’s the end,” said Ross. “My fondest memories at the high school from when I was a teacher were being involved in helping students achieve their goals and watching the outcomes once they’re done with their high school education. There’s something really satisfying about seeing that end result.”

Ross says he is determined to continue the initiatives in place with one-to-one Chromebooks and other technology platforms like Canvas to have a strong online learning presence.

“There’s lot that precedes me that I need to learn,” said Ross. “Although I was at the high school for 10 years, I’ve been gone for seven, so that means some familiarizing. Getting to know new staff members and building policies will be priority one for me.”

The timing of the transition was also unique on multiple levels. First, Ross recently returned from serving nearly a year of deployment as a member of the U.S. Army. Secondly, the social distancing rules in place for COVID-19 forced the district to deviate from its usual in-person interview formats.

“This was our first interview process that we had to do 100-percent virtually,” said Klinginsmith. “That was an interesting facet to this hiring process. I thought it went really well, and I can see using that technology in the future when we have central office interviews.”

In addition to replacing Raziq, R-III is also in the process of hiring a new assistant principal for the high school. Dr. Kenneth Holstine will be leaving after this year to take on the middle school principal role in his hometown of West Plains. His position, along with the assistant principal vacancy at Black Hawk Middle School, are expected to be filled by the May monthly board meeting.