Jonathan Nash loves being principal of Stafford Elementary. Now that he has had a little experience under his belt this year, he knows he made the right decision.

When asked how he liked being principal, now that he has had some experience, Nash replied, “I love it. It is a challenge, but I love it. I can see the importance of being a strong instructional leader. I feel like this is what I should be doing. Stafford is a good place and I love being here in a leadership capacity.”

He went on to say, “Being principal you are immediately in the spotlight, you become an instant hero. There is a big difference in responsibility, decisions have to be thought out more, you are affecting more people’s lives.”

When asked how the students have been reacting to him as principal, Nash answered, “They are doing well. They are ready for enthusiasm and for some consistency here. They really want to be noticed by the principal and they want to know that they matter. And they do, I just love the kids and they do matter.”

Nash’s goals for the students this year are for the student’s to feel safe at school, to be comfortable taking risks in their learning, to learn the power of positive relationships and to learn as much as they can. “We are going to be building trust with the students as a staff and accentuate the positive and when mistakes occur we are going to redirect the energy,” explained the principal.

The students are starting to feel comfortable with Mr. Nash, so much so that they loved dunking him in the water tank during the field-day event. “When they dunked me there were shrill laughs every time they did it. And they were very surprised and shocked when I raced the fourth graders and I won,” said Nash

Nash is looking forward to next year at Stafford. He said, “Stafford Elementary has highly trained teachers that care about the kids. You see that dedication in the classroom, they look for new and innovative ways to teach the students. And the kids, they are well mannered, easy to love and they look happy to be here.”