Superintendent Dr. Chuck Garner announced Tuesday morning that the Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education has named the district’s assistant superintendent, Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy, to replace him in the coming 2021-22 school year.

“It is my privilege to announce the GCR2 Board of Education has named Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy as the next superintendent of schools for the Gasconade County R-2 School District,” Garner wrote in an email to district administrators, teachers, staff and employees. “She will assume the duties July 1, 2021. I know you will partner with me, in congratulating Dr. Hardy and look forward to working with her as the district continues to strive for excellence.”

Hardy was hired Feb. 15, 2016, to be the district’s assistant superintendent, replacing Dr. Scott Hayes, and began work on July 1, 2016.

Hardy said she was both hopeful and surprised that the board chose to promote her to the superintendent’s position. “I knew I was praying that was it,” Hardy said Tuesday afternoon. “We were wanting this to be our forever home.”

Hardy and her husband Rick moved to the district in 2016 from southeast Missouri. Her daughter Candice had just married in March and her son Cole was a junior and would attend Owensville High School. As Hardy prepares to take on the superintendent’s mantel, she is planning her son’s wedding to a “girl from Owensville” and her daughter is expecting their first child in June. Hardy and her husband also purchased a home in the district in the spring.

“I am sure this will be (Cole’s) forever home too and we are trying to talk our daughter and son-in-law into moving here. We are also remodeling our new home.”

Hardy said the application process for the superintendent’s position can be nerve-wracking.

“We have to follow policy to advertise the position and it has been that way since 2011. You understand when you take a job like that there is always a risk,” Hardy said. “You never know if someone is going to come in and sweep everyone off their feet.”

Hardy isn’t sure how many applicants applied for the position as the district had a contract with Missouri Association of Rural Educators (MAORE) to vet applications. When asked about her goals for the district, Hardy said she plans to continue working with students and staff in making sure all graduates are college and career ready and that they have the students’ best interest at heart.

“We have to keep our goals student-oriented to make sure they are ready as soon as they leave our doors for careers, two- or four-year college. We are in a good place for that and want to continue to move our students towards being successful adults and great community members,” Hardy said. “We want our students to grow up and represent the communities that they live in — in a positive light.”

In the last 10 years the district has been part of a strong movement to keep their best and brightest at home to better the community.

“Now when you look back and see people who we graduated with serving on boards to enhance the community, we know there are career opportunities here that can be just as successful,” Hardy said. “That is our main goal and we make sure we continue to recruit highly-qualified staff members.”

She wants to continue the district’s reputation for growth and encourage staff members to grow with professional development.

“We expect our teachers to do the same thing to provide the best education possible for our kids,” she said.

Hardy has been part of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) movement, which she says is still a big push for her. “We have moved robotics since the time I have been here, the high school has two robotics teams and up until COVID, we had robotics teams at every building,” Hardy said. “We had started an after-school choir at the elementary and want to provide students opportunities to learn and grow and have extra-curricular activities to find the areas that they are passionate about.”

Hardy’s time in the district has been well spent documenting and following the schools’ data to help improve education. As taking on the assistant superintendent position, she has followed the CSIP scores and improved them from 95.4 percent the first year to 100 percent two years after that. The district’s accreditation is also high.

Hardy attributes the district’s success to great collaboration with the administrators and staff members. “I can’t take credit for all of that because it ties back to having great administrators and teachers,” she said. “I have learned in my time in the community that if there is a need in the community to call the family/school liaison and watch GCR2 Cares Facebook page and those needs will be met within the week. If the community hears a building needs something, we have community organizations willing to come in and take care of that. I have never seen the community-outpouring in a district like what we have here. It is great to be in a community like that.”

Hardy began her own college experience working on a law degree from 1995-98 at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Ark., and received a bachelor of arts degree in political science. When the couple learned they were expecting their first child, Hardy went to work as a social worker. There she discovered she wanted to be in schools.

In 2003, she enrolled in Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) in Cape Girardeau, and in 2006 received a bachelor of science degree in elementary education. She continued to work toward her master of arts degree in education and a Missouri Principal’s Certificate for grades K-8 until she received both in 2007.

She continued at SEMO until 2012, when she received a specialist degree in education administration.

Hardy enrolled at the University of Missouri in 2007 and has since completed an education degree in educational leadership and policy analysis, and completed her dissertation.

“We have a lot going on and we plan on staying here,” Hardy said. “We sold our home down south because we knew we were never going back. We fell in love with Owensville and the surrounding community.”