GLADSTONE — School may be out for summer, but the new principal and assistant principal at Gladstone High School are hard at work planning for the upcoming school year.

Monday marked the first day for the new administrative team for the high school, Principal Andrew Jacques and Assistant Principal/Athletic Director David Lindbeck.

Jacques may be the new principal for the school, but he is far from new to the school and the city of Gladstone. Jacques graduated from Gladstone High School and was the assistant principal/athletic director for the past three years.

“My hope is that we have a positive and inviting culture here at Gladstone, which I think we have but I want to be able to bring it to another level where the kids feel safe every day and we can get the kids to achieve goals that they never expected to achieve… When they leave us we want them to not only be academically sound, but we want them to be ready for the real world and be able to know they are a better person than when they came here. We just want to have respectful, responsible and safe individuals day-in, day-out,” Jacques said.

He said the transition from assistant principal to principal is going smoothly because of those around him.

He expressed gratitude for the support from his wife and family; his mentor former Principal Brady Downey; Gladstone Superintendent Jay Kulbertis; the other members of the administrative staff Dave Ballard, Kristina Hansen, Lori Neurohr, and Lori Wells; and the in-house staff of the high school.

Jacques said without the support of staff, the administration team, his family and other members of the community none of this could have happened.

“It has been such an amazing experience to be able to come back into my hometown and be able to have such great people around (me) to make this place the best place it can be,” he said.

He noted his team at the high school that will be helping him throughout the transition and with the kids at the school is made up of Assistant Principal Lindbeck, Student Service/Counselor Jeffyn Herioux, and Technology Director Brad Doyen.

“Altogether, we have an amazing staff, and I couldn’t ask for a better place to start my career as a principal. And I hope to be here to be able to retire in 27 years,” Jacques said.

This summer, he explained he is focusing on working with his staff in improving the culture at the school, helping Lindbeck with his new position, and beginning the groundwork for future programs and improvements to the school.

One of these programs will be the speaker series called “GHS Partnering with Parents.” Jacques said his hope is to solidify the dates for when the speakers can come to the high school so he can begin informing parents.

The GHS Partnering with Parents speaker series will allow parents of Gladstone High School students opportunities to be more involved and team up with the school in making sure students have the means to be successful. The topics will be different each month.

Other new or continuing programs and initiatives Jacques noted were the future peer to peer program, a focus on interventions with at-risk students, credit recovery summer courses, an intensive credit recovery program at the middle school that high schoolers can go to and gain credits online, and a possible new attendance policy.

Lindbeck, the new assistant principal and athletic director, said his main focus this summer is to work with Jacques on their vision for the school and get acquainted with the coaches and staff of the school.

Lindbeck is originally from Iron River, but worked most of his teaching career in Wisconsin with his career focusing on finding different ways to reach students.

He explained he knew the culture of the Gladstone School District was very student-centered and felt it was the perfect fit.

“Just the reputation that Gladstone has of just being a solid student-centered district. And that’s my vision, I work for the students — students’ success is what the driving force is,” Lindbeck said.

When it comes to working with Jacques, Lindbeck said being on the same page as a team is very important and he feels like they are already there.

“From a few of our phone calls after I accepted the position, we talked a lot about a lot of similar things. I believe our vision and our fit is very similar with each-other. … We seem to share a lot of common interests,” he said.