R-2 Board promotes OES assistant principal to GES principal

Nolting leaves OHS for Cuba principal’s duties

By Roxie Murphy, Staff Writer
Posted 3/30/22

The Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education on March 28 hired Owensville Elementary School (OES) Assistant Principal Brade Royle to take over for Gerald Elementary School (GES) Principal Jared Tharp …

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R-2 Board promotes OES assistant principal to GES principal

Nolting leaves OHS for Cuba principal’s duties

Posted

The Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education on March 28 hired Owensville Elementary School (OES) Assistant Principal Brade Royle to take over for Gerald Elementary School (GES) Principal Jared Tharp in the 2022-23 school year.

Royle, who is originally from Gerald, said the move is like “coming home.”

“I am obviously thrilled to have the opportunity to stay in the district and move up,” Royle said Tuesday afternoon. “GES is where I went to elementary school, I did my student teaching and Title A there. It is nice to be going back to that building. Kind of a homecoming.”

Royle said that attaining the GES principal position has been a goal for him.

“Eventually, I would entertain maybe superintendent or assistant superintendent,” Royle said. “But the end-goal is principal at GES and it worked out.”

Royle said the school that was once his is now where his kids go to school.

“It’s the hometown for me and my wife,” he said. “It’s where I grew up.”

Royle has been in the Gasconade County R-2 School District for 16 years. He started as a third-grade teacher in the 3-5 Center, then moved to fourth grade for 11 years and fifth grade for three years before attaining the OES assistant principal position.

As far as plans for GES, Royle is looking forward to a lot.

“I think they ave a lot of good things going and Jared (Tharp) has done a good job of keeping the ball rolling in the right direction,” Royle said. “I would like to see GES follow suit with OES and become a PBS Gold Level.”

PBS Gold recognizes schools that implement high-quality academics on a universal level.

Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy said they are excited to have Royle as GES principal.

“We have had him on the administration team and look forward to continuing working together,” Hardy said. “It’s exciting to have Brad, it’s like a homecoming for him. He had done an amazing job at OES and I think he will do a wonderful job in Gerald and working with that family of teachers.”

Royle was one of three internal candidates, nine total candidates, who applied for the position.

Hardy said the district is posting the open OES assistant principal position in-house first.

“We feel we have some really great teachers who may be aspiring to move up,” Hardy said.

Nolting accepts Cuba High School principal’s job 

Kari (Blankenship) Nolting, a 2007 Owensville High School graduate, recently accepted an offer to become the new principal at Cuba High School during the upcoming 2022-23 academic year.

Currently an at-risk teacher and working with students in in-school suspension (ISS), Nolting will make the move to administration after spending the last several years in multiple positions within the Gasconade County R-2 School District.

“I decided it was time to make the move to administration,” Nolting said.

Over the weekend, Nolting presided over her final Owensville Girls Volleyball Club Tournament as director of the organization.

(With reporting by Will Johnson)