CASSOPOLIS — With the 2018-19 school year just around the corner, both of the new Cassopolis Public Schools principals are preparing for their first week at the helm of their respective school.

The new principal at Ross Beatty Jr.-Sr. High School is Robin Hadrick, and the new principal at Sam Adams Elementary School is Deb Stermer.

Stermer has spent all 16 years of her career in education in the school district — most recently as the assistant principal at Sam Adams Elementary School. Previously, Hadrick was the principal at Ballard Elementary School in Niles, but she has had a variety of different roles in education throughout her 33-year career.

“I’m loving the community here,” Hadrick said. “The people are so friendly. Everybody knows each other. … You guys have a gem of a district that nobody knows about and I want to know why. We need to get the good word out. This is just a delightful place. The buildings are beautiful.”

For the students, the school year officially begins on Sept. 4. This year, the district plans to kick off the year in a way it never has before, with a week-long culture-building event. This will take place at both school buildings.

“Culture week is like team building week for the students and staff,” Hadrick said. “Every teacher and every adult in this building is going to get to know every child. The whole idea behind it is we’re going to treat each other with responsibility, respectfully and with trust.”

These three traits are part of the New Tech program that the district is implementing this year.

Stermer and Hadrick met each other just more than one month ago, at a New Tech conference in St. Louis. While they will not necessarily work with one another on a day-to-day basis, they both realize that together they can do a better job improving the district than they could separately.

“I’m really excited to work with [Hadrick],” Stermer said. “And see where we can take the district. … I would like to see people knocking on the doors and saying, ‘how can I get my kids into Cassopolis because we don’t have any more room.’”

Both new principals know that there will be some challenges when it comes to implementing New Tech into the district, but they agree that it is the right direction to go in.

To help make this process go smoothly, Stermer and Hadrick want to focus on communicating effectively with staff and parents.

“I want to collect all of the parents’ email addresses and send out weekly announcements,” Hadrick said. “I heard that they didn’t get much information [before]. I will send quarterly newsletters that will get mailed home as well. I’m big on communication.”

Stermer hopes to use Twitter, as well as Facebook and email to communicate with parents.

Overall, both principals are excited for the new school year to start and to help implement New Tech.

“I have a fire in my belly,” Stermer said. “We have so much to accomplish, but because of the support that we’re given, I have no qualms that we will not get there.”