Superintendent to serve as interim high school principal

BY MURRAY BISHOFF Special to the Cassville Democrat

A major reorganizational plan for leadership at the Purdy school district was approved at the school board’s Jan. 9 meeting. 

The change followed the resignation of high school principal Brian Anton in November, effective at the end of the school year in June. Superintendent Travis Graham said advertising the position brought in only two applicants, one from inside the district and one from the outside. 

“I looked at the structure of our administrative team and our goals regarding continued academic growth,” Graham said. 

Wanting to develop an administrator who was ready from within the district, Graham proposed a different approach. 

Misty Hall, who has taught social studies at Purdy for 20 years, is now administration-certified. 

“In evaluating that, we wanted to get her in the seat and provide an opportunity for mentorship and growth before throwing her in the ocean,” Graham said. 

To make that possible, Graham developed a strategy that included several duty shifts that addresses several issues at the same time. 

For the coming year, a school board approved naming Hall and Jennifer Cornelius as assistant principals for the high school. Hall will provide instructional focus for grades 9-12, as well as behavior support for all grades. 

“She is a strong instructor and will support teachers as needed,” Graham said. “It’s kind of sharing and compartmentalizing the load.” 

Cornelius, who taught at the middle school level for several years, has been serving as assistant principal and athletic director. Graham said she will have an instructional focus on grades 5-8, plus provide behavior support for pre-kindergarten through high school. 

Graham himself will serve as interim high school principal, in addition to his duties as superintendent, though those duties will change as well. Graham served as a middle school principal for five years before coming to Purdy in 2021, and hre plans to draw on his instructional background to provide the oversight needed next year. 

Graham will have some of the supervisory duties he handled shifted to the newly created position of director of operations. That responsibility will go to Julie Keeler, who has served as transportation director. Keeler will continue to coordinate the buses, plus oversee custodial and grounds maintenance. 

The restructuring will continue down to the lower grades. Julie Dalton, elementary principal, will add the seventh and eighth grades to her oversight, a strategic move since the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education tests both grades in the annual spring Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests. Dalton will continue as coordinator for the English language learners program and overseeing the federal programs for the district. 

Jennie Hickinbotham, who has been an instructional member in the team that led the transition from the AmeriCorps program to the current Reading Success program, will become coordinator of early learning and intervention. She will oversee programs for the pre-kindergarten students along with curriculum and instruction for kindergarten through second grade. 

“[Hickinbotham] will see teachers have the resources they need,” Graham said. “It all boils down to student success.” 

In another change, Emily Kooi, who has been teaching business and serving as one of the on-site staff helping with the technology vendor the district has used, will become the new director of technology as the district takes on those duties and builds its in-house technology hub. 

“My goal is to have a structure in place to build leaders from within,” Graham said. “We’re working on a committee structure to get teachers involved in areas like employee retention, parent involvement, climate and culture, increasing their involvement in the structure and school culture. We’re moving a lot of things to make sure the right people are in the right sets. 

“The board had a lot of discussion. This is really forward thinking by the board to be mindful to create an organizational structure that does not change in two or three years, creating one that can be in place and stay for the long term. With an experienced person like Misty Hall, we want to show that as you invest in the Purdy culture, we will invest in you as well.” 

Graham added he hopes Hall will be ready to take up the high school principal reins for the 2026-27 school year. 

In other action, the board voted to extend Graham’s contract through the 2027-28 school year. 

Homecoming was scheduled for Friday, Jan. 31.