SPRINGDALE -- Springdale High School principal Pete Joenks is taking a job as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in Prairie Grove, officials with the larger district said Wednesday.
Joenks is staying at the high school through the end of June, Springdale spokesman Rick Schaeffer said. Joenks said he was in the lucky situation of leaving behind one fantastic district for another.
"I love this place, I love the people, I love the students, I love the community," Joenks said. Leaving wasn't the original plan, but when the job opened, he wanted to try for a district-wide role.
Joenks was Springdale High's assistant principal for about seven years before becoming principal in 2010. He oversaw almost 2,200 students enrolled at the school this year, according to Arkansas Department of Education data. Prairie Grove School District includes about 1,900 students.
"He is a phenomenal educational leader, and he will be genuinely missed," Springdale Superintendent Jim Rollins said. "We wish Mr. Joenks well, and I know that he'll make an enormous contribution to Prairie Grove."
Prairie Grove's School Board approved the hire during a special meeting Monday. Joenks isn't the first Springdale administrator to move to the smaller city. Prairie Grove Superintendent Allen Williams was once Springdale High principal and Springdale assistant superintendent. Prairie Grove's assistant superintendent for transportation and facilities, David Kellogg, is also a former Springdale High principal.
"I've heard wonderful things about that community and that School District," Joenks said.
Williams didn't return a phone message requesting comment Wednesday afternoon.
Joenks' time with Springdale goes back decades; he graduated from Springdale High in 1983 while his father, Frank, was principal there. He taught physics and chemistry at Central Junior High School and Springdale High, then stepped into an administrative role as assistant principal at George Junior High School.
"It's kind of hard to think about Springdale High School without him," Schaeffer said.
Joenks became principal a few years after the opening of Har-Ber High School and favored a "whole student" approach in which school administrators started a food pantry and adapted to an increasingly diverse student body. He stressed the importance of forming relationships with students after several then-current or former students were involved in gang-related shootings around late 2015.
Joenks told a reporter in late 2016 his curiosity and gift for talking, as well as watching his dad at work, made his career an obvious choice.
"We all want to do something to help our community, to contribute to it, to make it better. The more classes I took in teaching, the more I realized that it was kind of a natural thing for me," he said. "It just seemed like the right fit, almost a calling from God."
Joenks this school year earned a salary of about $120,000. It's unclear what his Prairie Grove salary will be; Joenks said he didn't know the specific amount.
Rollins said the search for a new principal will begin quickly.
NW News on 05/10/2018