New principals bring fresh leadership

Whitefish School District is starting the school year with a number of changes at the administrative level of its schools.

Kerry Drown is the new principal at the high school, Josh Branstetter is the middle school principal, Linda Whitright is the principal at Muldown Elementary and John Coyne is the assistant principal for both the middle and elementary schools.

Each of the new principals sat down with the Pilot for a candid conversation about the upcoming school year and how they plan to lead their respective schools.

KERRY DROWN, who formerly served as middle school principal, has taken over the leadership at the high school.

Former principal Dave Carlson resigned from the position in June, leaving the opening. This left a short window for the seat to be filled before the start of the new school year.

Drown said he wanted to assist the district.

“I’m invested in education and so my mind always goes to problem-solving,” he said. “It would have been the easy thing for me to sit back and hope the district would find solutions on its own. I wanted to be part of the solution. I want to continue uniting the staff and making a connection with the community.”

Drown spent the last five years as middle school principal. He has worked in the district for 21 years and previously was a math teacher at the high school and assistant principal at the middle school. He also served as football coach.

“I’m proud of our community and district,” he said. “I want everyone else to have pride in that, too.”

Drown recognizes that middle and high school students are different. He said he’s ready to return to the older students and help them work toward their goals.

“We’re here to help high school students on the bridge to becoming young adults,” he said. “They have a higher level of independence and we’re here to help them be ready for college and career — that’s what keeps my focus.”

He sees the transition from the middle school to the high school as a chance to continuing working with many of the same families, but also as a fresh start.

“The students are more mature than they were at the middle school,” he said. “This is an opportunity for new beginnings.”

Drown’s goals include helping to guide the school with the implementation of new state teaching standards, which includes making sure students are moving beyond the classroom for learning.

“We want to increase the level of rigor and make sure we are helping kids perform at the highest level of achievement,” he said. “I want kids to walk away from high school with a positive and challenging experience. I want to help students keep focus and hold them accountable, and I expect them to hold us to that, too.”

LINDA WHITRIGHT will serve her first full year as Muldown’s principal this school year. She took over the job in April after working as assistant principal under Jill Rocksund, who is now the district’s curriculum director.

Whitright would like to continue to build upon Muldown’s success as a school.

“I’m so fortunate to have the staff I do,” she said. “I already have the working shell and my part is to continue to facilitate as we move forward.”

One of the many positives she looks forward to is increased collaboration between all three schools through new staff sharing and teacher training. While the three school leaders are new to their positions, they have all worked together for several years, she noted.

“There was a group of teachers and administrators that attended training together in April. For many of us it felt like the first time all three schools were coming together to talk,” she said. “What we all do to teach students is very similar, it’s just at different levels — we’re not three different entities. We should be learning and collaborating together with all three schools.”

Muldown lost several teachers last year to retirement. Whitright acknowledge they are tough to replace, but she’s excited about the new opportunities. One is a focus on foreign languages in the school enrichment program.

Whitright served as assistant principal for four years and previously was a teacher serving in several roles at the middle school.

When she began teaching her goal was to eventually become a counselor. At that time she was first required to complete three years of teaching.

“I learned that when you’re a teacher, you are a counselor,” she said. “Then I realized that I not only liked teaching and working inside the classroom, but also learning alongside my colleagues.”

She realized that by making the transition into administration she could combine both areas that she loved.

“I do miss the classroom and forming relationships with my students,” she said. “But they’re all my classrooms now. I have an opportunity to go into all of the classrooms whenever I want.”

Whitright enjoys working with students, teachers and parents on a daily basis.

“We are a huge part of this community and they are part of us,” she said. “I welcome anyone to come in and visit anytime. They can visit me or a classroom and see what’s happening.”

JOSH BRANSTETTER began working at the middle school when he was completing his student teaching. He’s continued his career at the school and is now the principal after serving as assistant principal since 2009. He previously taught fifth grade.

“I’m excited about the change,” Branstetter said. “I think the school is in a good spot. I don’t expect to make any huge changes. I want to continue to grow the foundations that have been built by (former principals) Kim Anderson and Kerry Drown.”

Branstetter plans to continue building upon already established programs that create opportunities for student community service projects.

“Whether students go on to college or take the career path, they also have to learn citizenship,” he said. “We want to make sure they contribute positively to society. The middle school has already done a lot of good things. We want to make sure students take pride and ownership in the community where they live.”

Branstetter said middle school is often a time when students are trying to figure out who they are.

“Middle school is an important stepping stone,” he said. “There’s a lot of growth that happens in middle school. I’d like to see us help kids figure out who they are and make sure they’re ready for the next step.”

Branstetter spent the latter part of last school year serving as assistant principal at both the middle school and Muldown. He said that is the beginning of a stronger relationship between the two schools.

He would like to see a continued effort to ease the transition from fourth grade into fifth grade at the middle school and then into the high school.

“I’m excited to be part of a pretty special school and work with the staff, students and parents,” he said.

JOHN COYNE has been hired to serve as assistant principal at Muldown and the middle school.

Coyne grew up in Butte and spent 21 years as a teacher and coach in Hamilton. For the last 10 years he has taught in Vancouver, Wash. He has experience teaching at both the elementary and middle school levels.

Coyne said he looks forward to his position that will allow him to work with students at both schools.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” he said.

Coyne enjoys working with more mature middle school students who he describes as “very loyal” and elementary students who have great enthusiasm for learning.

He views his new position as the next step in his journey after many years teaching.

“I like mentoring and working with students and teachers,” he said. “There are things that I have experience in that I would like to pass on. My time in the classroom has given me experience that I hope to share.”

Coyne’s immediate goal is to get to know buildings, the staff and students.

“I want to make sure people know I’m here to make a difference,” he said. “I want to make the district proud of the fact that they picked me.”