CAPE GIRARDEAU SCHOOL DISTRICT BEGINS THIS YEAR WITH NEW FACES

New faces at school this week are in the principal's office at three Cape Girardeau public schools.

Central High School, Central Junior High School and L.J. Schultz all have new principals. The first day of classes for Cape Girardeau students was Thursday.

At Central High, three new administrators are Principal Dan Tallent and assistants Mark Ruark and Bill Biggerstaff.

Gerald Richards, who had been assistant principal at the junior high, has been promoted to principal at that school. A new assistant has yet to be hired. Lanny Barnes, the former junior high principal, is the district's new A-Plus School coordinator.

At L.J. Schultz Middle School, the district's seventh-grade center, the new principal is John Eck.

Tallent said he has been anxious for students to arrive on campus. "It's like a sports team," Tallent said, "We've been practicing and practicing and practicing, looking forward to that first game."

The team analogy carries through the new administrative staff at the high school. The team is bigger this year. Two assistant principals are working in the building. Last year, there was one.

Expect lots of visibility from the administrative team. They plan to be roaming the hallways during class changes, sitting in the lunchroom and attending after-school events.

Biggerstaff has an office on the second floor, in an effort to make him more visible and accessible to students and teachers in that part of the building.

Ruark, who had been a teacher and coach at Central High for nine years, says he is ready to put some ideas he developed in the classroom to work. He is interested in working with students and helping them stay on the right track.

Assistant principals, he said, are often considered police officers for the school since discipline makes up a large part of their duties.

But he and Biggerstaff said they plan to get to know students, even when students are behaving. "We want to catch them doing something good," Biggerstaff said. He was formerly principal at Chaffee High School.

The administrative team has set specific building goals, including reducing drop-out rates, improving test scores and providing positive reinforcements for accomplishments and good behavior.

Tallent has also formed a student advisory committee and a faculty advisory committee. He will start a parent advisory committee after school begins. The committees, he said, will discuss different issues at Central High and make recommendations.

Tallent worked for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as a state supervisor of instruction in the southeast region. Previously, he was superintendent at Meadow Heights, athletic director and assistant high school principal at Perry County District 32 and high school principal at Delta. He started his teaching career in 1976 at Central High School.

Former Central High Principal Dan Milligan retired. Former Assistant Principal Rick McClard moved to Jackson High School.

Gerald Richards has been at Central Junior High since 1967.

"We moved temporarily to Cape Girardeau so my wife could complete her degree," Richards said. "We found a home in Cape Girardeau."

He worked seven years as a math teacher, 13 years as counselor and the past seven years as assistant principal at the junior high.

Richards worked most of that time with Barnes, who was principal at the junior high for 23 years.

Richards wants to create a positive school climate where teachers and students look forward to coming to class.

"I'm big on positive aspects, happy grams and positive rewards," he said.

As assistant principal, he asked teachers to pass on positive remarks about students. Richards then telephoned parents with the good news.

"I want parents to know principals can call home about something other than negatives," he said. "That is the attitude I have want to foster."

He expects that a new assistant principal will be named early next week.

As coordinator of the A-Plus Schools grant, Barnes will be rewriting the school's course objectives to meet new career paths. Cape Girardeau is one of 35 schools in the state to receive an A-Plus grant. The school received all it applied for, $203,828, which is renewable two more years.

The program is designed to place all students on a structured career path toward college, vocational school or a high-wage job.

The actual program will begin in the 1995-96 school year. Each student will choose from one of six career areas on which to base his or her entire high school course plan. The six areas include health-related professions, social services, arts and communication, business and management, and industry and engineering.

John Eck said good things have been happening at L.J. Schultz and he plans to build on the school's success.

"I have been going through the teacher handbook, and I would have written many of the things that are in here," Eck said. "I know many hours of study and committee work have gone into making this a strong program."

Eck said he is interested in developing a close partnership with the schools PTO. The parent teacher organization changed it's name from PTA to PTO this year, he said.

"We are here to work with parents to help educate their children," Eck said. "We need to work together to make that transition from elementary school to junior high and high school. It's a very critical year, but from what people tell me a very successful year."

During the next two weeks, Eck and the school counselor will be meeting with every student in the building.

"It's real important to get to know the students," he said.

Eck was a teacher for 10 years and a principal for five years before taking the job at Schultz. Most recently he was principal at St. Vincent's High School in Perryville.

Former Schultz Principal Carolyn Vandeven took a job as an assistant superintendent for the Joplin public school district.