Oakdale High School started their school year off by welcoming several new staff and administration.  One of the new faces is Brooke Hontz, a new Assistant Principal. Prior to being an assistant principal at Oakdale, she was an AP over at Middletown High School.

Eric Schwarzenegger, the other Assistant Principal over at Middletown, noted, “Ms. Hontz is someone who genuinely cares about the students, especially those for whom school isn’t easy, or, because of circumstances outside of school, they end up struggling in school. There are so many students that owe a great deal to Ms. Hontz because she never gave up on them and helped them work through tough situations to eventually graduate with a diploma.”

When talking with Hontz after she came to Oakdale, she expressed her intentions to do the same thing here, “My initial goal is just to learn the staff and the students. Every school does their own things in their own unique way. My initial goal is to just become an established member,” 

She then continued, ”My ultimate goal in any building I’ve ever worked with is to establish positivity throughout the students, staff and families.”

According to all of the other OHS administrators, having Hontz join the team has been amazing. Ms. Kirby, one of the other AP’s at OHS, mentioned, “That is amazing because more hands make light work.  We’re trying to get so much done, and it’s nice to have another person on duty. Just an extra person to help with duties.”

By adding an extra person, the number of students each AP is responsible for decreases, and everyone can spend more time getting to work with students one on one.  Her addition also opens up room for the AP’s to do more observations, and check on the teachers as well.

Daniel Grimm, another AP at OHS, noted, “With all of us and working as a team, we all have different approaches in handling things, so it’s wonderful to have not only her but Mr. Caulfield coming from outside of Oakdale and seeing how we can make new things happen around us.”

Hontz is settling in nicely already, and it will be wonderful to see how the rest of the year shapes up. She is quickly adjusting to Oakdale, and adopting it as her home. When asked if she’s been liking Oakdale so far, Hontz responded, “I do because I am a member of the Oakdale Community. I was excited about being able to work in my community and closer to my home.”