Clarke school board hires Jill Kiger as new elementary principal

When school starts next month, there will be many new faces at Clarke Community Elementary School, including the new principal.

During a Clarke School Board meeting July 17, Jill Kiger was hired as the new principal. She also attended the school-board meeting.

"I'm very excited to be here and to get started," Kiger said in an interview with the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune.

This is Kiger's first job as a principal. Her most recent experience was teaching fourth grade in Winterset. She completed her 14th year of teaching before she was hired as Clarke's elementary principal.

Kiger received her administrative degree from Iowa State University.

Contract

Kiger was hired at Clarke with a 240-day contract that includes a yearly salary of $78,000, plus a $850 cafeteria plan.

When looking into principal jobs, Kiger said she knew she wanted to stay in the south central Iowa area. Her husband Matt is a seventh-grade math teacher and wrestling coach in Winterset. They have two children and will continue to live in Winterset.

"When I started looking at the school district, I was really drawn to lots of the initiatives that are being done in the elementary," Kiger said. "Everything from the technology with the iPad initiative, I think that it's really powerful to start students young teaching them about the digital age we live in."

Kiger added, she was impressed by the Leader In Me educational program at the elementary school, and one of her goals is to improve the program's success when school starts.

"I think, just in general, (I want to) support all of the wonderful work that has been done in the last year with the Leader In Me program," she said.