The Rossville Consolidated School District Board of Education officially hired Terry Thompson as the new principal at Rossville High School and Middle School at a special meeting Tuesday morning.
“Terry comes with a wealth of high school experiences and also as a superintendent,” said Rossville Consolidated School District Superintendent Dr. Jim Hanna. “He has also worked for the Indiana Department of Education in curriculum and different areas as well as human resources. He comes to Rossville with a wide variety of experiences.”
Thompson said he has been a principal at Tipton High School and Southport High School before becoming the director of human resources at Clark Pleasant Community Schools. He was then a high school principal at Anderson High School before taking the superintendent spot at Anderson Community Schools.
“This was the one school that I was interested in because when I was growing up and I was in college, I use to come out here and hang out with (former athletic director) Bob Knapp,” said Thompson. “We did a lot of fishing, hunting and golfing here in the town of Rossville. The great thing about Rossville is the community has very high standards. I felt this was the perfect and most ideal situation.”
Thompson was one of 38 who applied for the position. Applicants that applied before July 18 received four questions to which to respond to. Twelve responded. That group of applicants was then screened and four were selected to interview. Thompson will replace Michael Gick, who resigned in early July to run CBD Solutions full time in Lafayette.
Thompson will earn $85,000 per year and he received a two-year contract which is per Indiana law.
“My belief is every student every day meaning that we have to give our best to every student regardless of any situation,” said Thompson. “My goal is to make sure all of our kids do well. Rossville’s done very well for years. But, I noticed there are a few things that I think we can improve upon. That comes for having high expectations.
“I love the kids,” he added. “When I got into the superintendency, that was the thing I missed the most. They keep you young.”
Hanna was happy with the candidates who applied.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have a good pool of candidates,” said Hanna. “The people that we have here are high caliber and we’re very excited to have him on board. I think he’ll continue to move us forward. Having an experienced person like him is really good for the district.”
The first day for the staff is Wednesday, August 1, while the first day for students is Monday, August 6.