Administrative team excited to open new elementary school
August 31, 2017
The administrative team at Dorothy Dodds Elementary School is excited to have the opportunity to be part of opening the new Moorhead school.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Robin Grooters, principal at Dodds Elementary. “I am looking forward to working with the staff at Dorothy Dodds as well as meeting the students and families. It is wonderful to be in a community that is so supportive. I look forward to having families engaged and involved in their school.”
“I’m excited about the opportunity of merging staff from four different elementary schools into one culture that is undeniably and wildly crazy about kids,” said Nancy Wilson, assistant principal at Dodds Elementary. “I also look forward to keeping our students in the building for longer than one year. Building lasting relationships with families over time will definitely be a huge benefit of the K-4 configuration.”
Last year Grooters and Wilson served as principal and assistant principal at Probstfield Elementary, which served all kindergarten students in Moorhead Area Public Schools.
Prior to being named Probstfield principal in 2015, Grooters was the district’s director of early learning for three years, and she worked as the program manager for Early Intervention Services and a facilitator for special education. Wilson had 23 years of classroom experience with Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Schools before coming to Moorhead as Probstfield Elementary’s assistant principal last year.
Grooters said her responsibilities as principal include shaping the vision of academic success for all students, creating a safe and positive climate, and being supportive and responsive to students, families and staff.
“My role also includes cultivating leadership in others, improving instruction through professional learning, and managing people, data and processes,” Grooters said.
Wilson said her biggest responsibility is building and maintaining positive relationships with staff, students and families.
“No day is ever the same, which motivates and challenges me at the same time,” she said. “As an instructional leader, my day is filled with supervision, evaluations, observations and classroom visits.”
She also interprets and enforces policy, schedules field trips, sifts through data, and stays on top of day-to-day functions to support Grooters.
Wilson appreciates the support she has received in the district.
“The level of commitment by the Moorhead community in their efforts to provide valuable learning opportunities for all students is humbling,” Wilson said.
“Moorhead Area Public Schools has always shown such great support for students and the educational system,” Grooters said. “It is a pleasure to be part of such an outstanding community.”
The building administrators have spent the summer making sure Dodds Elementary would be ready for staff and students for the new school year.
“Despite all of our best planning, we anticipate having to tweak a few things here and there once we ‘go live’ with staff and students,” Wilson said. “We’re not going to sweat it though. If Plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters!”
“My main goal for this school year is I want to be in the classrooms and have professional conversations with teachers about curriculum and instruction,” Grooters said. “The work of the school happens in the classroom. If I want to be an influence in my school, then that is where I need to be.”
Photo caption: Principal Robin Grooters and Assistant Principal Nancy Wilson discuss room assignments at Dorothy Dodds Elementary School with Julie Kummer, learner support services program manager.
Categorized under: School