Assistant hired as Dover Elementary School principal

Ryan Staggs, assistant principal at Dover Elementary School, was hired to be the principal starting in July. He will replace Josh Daniels, who is taking the position of superintendent. Staggs is shown with his wife, Carla, and their three daughters, McKynlee, from left, Bentlee and Paisley.
Ryan Staggs, assistant principal at Dover Elementary School, was hired to be the principal starting in July. He will replace Josh Daniels, who is taking the position of superintendent. Staggs is shown with his wife, Carla, and their three daughters, McKynlee, from left, Bentlee and Paisley.

DOVER — Ryan Staggs won’t have far to go when he becomes Dover Elementary School’s principal in July.

Staggs, the school’s assistant principal, was unanimously promoted at the December school board meeting.

Elementary Principal Josh Daniels was named superintendent in November by the board to replace Jerry Owens, who is retiring this year.

Staggs said he and Daniels

“share a wall” between their offices, so it’s “just a couple of steps for the move.”

The 36-year-old Staggs grew up in Atkins, “the arch rival here [in Dover],” he said. His mother worked at a factory; his father was a salesman. Staggs graduated in 2004 with a degree in health and physical education from Arkansas Tech University in Russellville.

“I knew I wanted to teach and coach — just at the point I realized I couldn’t play sports for a living,” he said.

His first job was with the Berryville School District, where he taught “a little bit of everything,” including

physical education in elementary school, health at the junior high and high school world history. While he was teaching in Berryville, he earned a master’s degree in educational administration from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.

Staggs’ next position was as Pottsville High School’s defensive football coordinator. He taught PE, civics and economics, and started the Environmental and Spatial Technology Lab at the junior high.

“The principal approached me about starting that,” Staggs said. His wife, Carla, teaches first grade in Pottsville. They have three daughters — McKynlee, who turns 8 today; Paisley, 4; and Bentlee, 8 months.

Staggs was at Pottsville for nine years before moving into administration two years ago as assistant principal at Dover Elementary School. The 500-student school transitioned this year from kindergarten through fifth grade to kindergarten through fourth grade. Fifth grade is now part of Dover Middle School.

Staggs said he enjoys the elementary level because of the influence educators have on that age group in a short time.

“I just like, really, how much growth you see in them. There’s so much growth from the start to the end of the year. I watch kids who I remember their first days of kindergarten crying their eyes out; they’re reading now,” he said.

“My philosophy — I’m very relational, and what I mean by that, we’re going to take care of our teachers; we’re going to take care of our students; we’re going to take care of our parents.”

Staggs said teachers and administrators will let students know “first and foremost we care about them and do everything we can to get them where they need to be.”

Dover Elementary School has received accolades for its test scores. The school was named in 2016 in the top

5 percent of elementary schools in the state for its ACT Aspire scores. The district will receive “somewhere around $90,000” for the school’s achievement.

He said a committee of teachers and parents will be formed to decide how to spend the money.

“Usually, it has to be basically for resources; it can be used as a bonus, or it can be used for personnel for instruction. It’s something we’re proud of and something we’re hoping we can do some good with,” Staggs said.

“I feel like we have great teachers here and teachers who care a lot. It reflects hard work and effort,” he said, adding that teachers take the students’ success “personally.” They celebrate if the results are good, he said; “they beat themselves up” if students don’t measure up.

Owens said he thinks Staggs is “an excellent choice.” As incoming superintendent, Daniels “needs to pick his teams, and he has a lot of confidence in Mr. Staggs, so I support it,” Owens said.

Daniels said Staggs has many qualities that made him the right choice for the position.

“He’s a great people person. He works great with the kids, teachers and parents,” Daniels said. “He steps in when he sees something that needs to be done; he’s got a lot of initiative. He’s got a coach’s mentality, and I mean that in a good sense — he’s always wanting to get better.”

Staggs said his salary will be “just shy of $80,000.”

A new assistant elementary school principal has not been hired.

“We have not posted that job yet,” Staggs said.

Daniels said administrators are “still assessing the situation with all the shifts.”

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 ortkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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