A former teacher and coach at Cassville Middle School is returning to the district after two years at East Newton.

After five years of service to the Cassville school district, at the conclusion of the 2021-2022 school year, Mark Elliott departed from Wildcat Nation to launch his career in educational administration at East Newton. Elliott served as both the high school assistant principal and activities director for the Patriots for the last 2 years.

In July, he will return to Cassville, this time as an administrator.

During the December Board of Education meeting, the Cassville School Board voted to hire Elliott as the next assistant principal at Cassville Middle School. He will work alongside incoming CMS Principal Samantha Cosper.

“We are very excited to welcome Mr. Elliott back to Wildcat Nation,” Cosper said. “He previously taught and coached here at CMS. His leadership experience, ability to connect with and mentor students and community connections are going to be a great addition to our CMS staff.”

With 15 years of educational experience, Elliott is no stranger to the classroom or the Big 8 Conference. After graduating with a degree in elementary education from Evangel University, he began his teaching career at Aurora, where he taught fifth grade. He also taught both third-grade and sixthgrade students at McDonald County and middle school math and social studies at Hollister. While at Cassville, he taught both social studies and in-school suspension.

“During my two years at East Newton, I gained a great deal of knowledge about building relationships with teachers and students as an assistant principal,” Elliott said. “I worked closely with our coaches and student athletes as the district athletic director and helped develop some of our younger coaches.”

Elliott earned his Masters Degree in Administration in 2019 from Lindenwood University.

In addition to his tenure as a classroom teacher, he has held multiple coaching positions within the Big 8, including football, both girls and boys basketball and track and field.

“I look forward to returning to Cassville, as my family and I call it home,” Elliott said.

Elliott has resided in Cassville for nearly 10 years. In 2019, his wife Kelsey joined him and began working as a third grade teacher at Cassville Intermediate School where she still teaches. Mark, Kelsey, and their daughter Maddi, are excited to be adding a new baby to their family this spring.