Let’s put it simply: adjusting to a new principal will not be easy. One thing to lessen the burden however, is the fact that our next principal has been here before.
Current East Middle School Principal Kerry Parsons will take over as principal of CMR on July 1, as Principal Dick Kloppel retires after 15 years in charge of our school, and 45 years in education.
Parsons graduated from CMR as part of the class of 1984, taught as a biology teacher at CMR from August 1994 to June 2006, and was an associate principal from August 2006 to June 2013 under Mr. Kloppel.
Parsons is known by many members of the faculty, although he is a familiar face only to next year’s seniors, who were freshmen during his final year as a CMR associate principal.
The fact that Parsons is well-known around the school will certainly help the adjustment, but there will no doubt be some changes. We all respect that Parsons will have a slightly different way of going about his business than what we have grown accustomed to with Kloppel, but we believe that CMR will retain its great environment, with no drastic differences from what we are used to now.
We can only hope that Parsons will be as loved and respected in his first few years as principal as Mr. Kloppel is currently.
When Parsons was an associate principal, he definitely gained respect for his ability to handle situations and take care of our school, and we believe this respect should carry over into his years as principal. We know adjustments can be hard but we urge our students to give Mr. Parsons as much respect as is given to Mr. Kloppel. Remember, he’s having to adjust too, coming back to a school he hasn’t been at for two years and being the top administrator will be no easy task, and we at the Stampede know that he deserves respect for doing so.
That being said, we have no doubt that Parsons will earn students’ respect. He is a reasonable man, and was great in his role as associate principal.
So, from the Stampede, along with all of the Rustler family, we would like to welcome Kerry Parsons back into our school, and we wish him the best of luck going forward as principal of CMR.