The Meramec Valley R-III School District has hired Ironton native Ryan Gregory as the principal of the Doris Hoffman Early Learning Center.
Gregory was a special education teacher in the Lincoln County R-III School District previously and is replacing Dr. Stephanie Bechard, who is moving to the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District as the new federal programs coordinator.
“In a post-COVID world, this is a trying time for educators,” Gregory said. “So serving in an administrative capacity, especially at this time in our nation’s history, is truly a blessing.”
After graduating from Arcadia Valley High School in 2010, Gregory went to Mineral Area College and completed his bachelor’s degree at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He said that when he came back to Missouri, he hoped to teach secondary education and coach.
Gregory said his desire to be a teacher can be traced back to a 2011 speech by then-President Barack Obama while the president was visiting South Korea.
“He was talking about how revered the teaching profession is in that nation,” Gregory said. “They have a term for it over in South Korea and it equates in English to ‘nation builders.’ To me, unfortunately, the teaching profession has become incredibly undervalued and there’s no reason at all, because as educators, we are preparing our nation’s youth to take on active roles in society and become contributing members of society.”
However, DePauw’s classical studies degree did not qualify Gregory to be a teacher in Missouri. After starting as a paraprofessional in the Farmington R-VII School District while working on a Missouri Baptist University teacher certification program, Gregory said his passion for early childhood education was stoked.
Since then, he has worked through an “aspiring administrators cohort” at Lincoln County and earned a master’s degree from Indiana University in educational leadership. He is currently in a hybrid doctoral program at Indiana, going to campus three times a semester.
As an administrator, Gregory said he can have a positive impact, not only on students and parents, but on teachers and other staff in the building.
Philosophically, Gregory said he is “a huge advocate” for tactile and hands-on learning.
“It enhances social and emotional learning and contributes to their ability to communicate,” he said.
When it comes to technology, Gregory said it plays a now-essential role in classrooms, but “in my opinion, a piece of technology can never replace a teacher.”
In his first few months as principal, Gregory said his main goal is to learn as much about the school as possible. He is hosting a “Popsicles With the Principal” event from 5-6 pm July 26 on the playground at Doris Hoffman Early Learning Center, 228 Indian Pride Drive in Pacific.
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