Erik Smith is new principal for C-G-D High School

Erik Smith, new principal for Clarion-Goldfield-Dows High School, has spent the last couple of weeks getting used to the school, meeting teachers, and attending meetings and conferences. He is looking forward to starting in his new district when classes begin August 23.

The difference between being a principal and being a teacher, Smith said, is that instead of leading a classroom, he’s leading the school. “I work a lot more with the teachers now than maybe with the students,” he said. He does, however, try to be involved with students as much as possible. He likes to go into classrooms and see how different teachers approach learning. “It gets me to focus on what’s really important,” he said.

Before taking the job at C-G-D, Smith was principal at Nashua-Plainfield Junior and Senior High School in Nashua, Iowa, for seven years. Before that, he was at Don Bosco School in Gilbertville. While teaching middle school math and science, his principal suggested to him he look into becoming a principal himself. He went on to earn his master’s degree in educational leadership at the University of Northern Iowa.

For more about C-G-D High School's new principal, see the August 18 edition of the Monitor.