By By JAN GRIFFEY / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Doug Langmeyer said he has worked with the staff at Ring Lardner for more than a year and a half and he is full aware of the commitment each has to student success.
That's why, as new Ring Lardner principal, Langmeyer said he will depend heavily on staff input and involvement in decision making.
Langmeyer, who has been serving as assistant principal at Ring Lardner, was named principal of the school on Tuesday afternoon.
Niles Community Schools Superintendent Doug Law said after former Ring Lardner Principal Gary Garland resigned to accept a job out of the district, he had three candidates from within the school district express interest in the position and eight from outside the district.
Law interviewed the three internal candidates.
Langmeyer said as a result of the No Child Left Behind federal mandate, schools are more accountable than ever for student performance.
The academic changes at Ring Lardner this year will include the scheduling of an enrichment lab for students, which will be a computer-based program to help students who need it in specific areas and to challenge high-performing students and offer them a greater opportunity to excel.
Langmeyer said the program is very skill specific and will require teachers to diagnose areas in which students need more work or more of a challenge.
Another academic program this year at Ring Lardner will be a program that teaches literacy skills.
A native of Tecumseh and graduate of Michigan State University, where he earned his bachelor's degree, and Western Michigan University, where he earned his master's degree, Langmeyer has spent his entire teaching career in the Niles Community Schools district.
He began teaching science at Niles High School in 1984. Langmeyer also taught at Cedar Lane Alternative High School for a year and became assistant principal at Ring Lardner in 2003.
He and his wife, Joan, who is a guidance counselor with Niles Community Schools, are the parents of two sons, Jared, 10, a fifth grader at Ballard Elementary, and Adam, 7, a second grader, also at Ballard.
Langmeyer said when not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, being involved in youth baseball and playing the occasional round of golf.
Langmeyer and Law hope to begin their search quickly for a new assistant principal at Ring Lardner with a goal of having that position filled by the time school starts on Aug. 30.