First day of school for new superintendent

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

New Charles City School District Superintendent Mike Fisher officially started work on Monday, and he spent his first few hours on the job on the roof of the high school with Paul Kruger, a long time district maintenance employee.

“Paul scheduled some time with me to go up and take a look from the roof,” Fisher said. “He then took me on a tour of the district, and showed me all the facilities.”

Fisher said he wants to get a good grasp of the infrastructure of the district right away, and he liked the opportunity to walk around in the shoes of the maintenance and grounds people who work in the district.

“I’d like to make this an everyday thing,” he said, adding that he planned to regularly schedule time to get to know custodians, cooks and bus drivers — all the employees who Fisher called the “unsung heroes” of the school district.

Fisher was hired in late May, and replaces Dan Cox, who announced his resignation in late March. Fisher previously served as principal at Hoover Middle School in Waterloo. He and his wife, Sarah, along with their son, Joshua, have moved into their new home and have been Charles City residents for a little over a week now.

Fisher has already become involved in the community. The former music teacher was a part of the orchestra in the Stony Point Players’ musical production this past weekend.

Other new CCSD administration officially starting work this week include Bryan Jurrens, as principal of the Charles City High School; and Thomas Harskamp, as Charles City Middle School associate administrator. Both were hired in early June.

Jurrens, the head assistant principal at Waterloo East High School for the last eight years, succeeds Josh Johnson, who has accepted a regional administrator position with the Central Rivers Area Education Agency.

Harskamp was formerly dean of students at Marrs Magnet Middle School in Omaha, Nebraska. He succeeds Keith Reuter, who accepted the K-12 principal position with the Clarksville Community School District.