Easton Valley Community Schools

We pursued a very aggressive timeline to fill our vacancy due to the time constraints. In a relatively short amount of time we had nine candidates apply for the position. We ended up interviewing five candidates in person. Each candidate was interviewed by a board/administrative group, a staff group, and a parent group. We also had a small group of student leaders join us to provide each candidate with a tour of our school.

Each of our interview groups agreed that we had a pool of at least four strong principal candidates. While the decision was very close between our top two candidates, every interview team came to consensus that Austin Daniels was the top candidate.

I would like to formally welcome Austin Daniels to our Eaton Valley team. He comes to us with roots in our community, previous administrative experience, and diverse experiences in education. I am confident that he is the right leader to help us take Easton Valley Elementary to even greater heights. Please join me in welcoming Austin back to our schools and community!

Mr. Daniels also shared an introduction letter that I will include below. Please take a moment to read a little bit about him. I am sure you will be seeing and hearing more from him in the coming weeks.

Easton Valley Community,

It is an honor to introduce myself as your new elementary school principal!  I cannot wait to begin serving the students, staff, families, and community members of the district for years to come.

First off, some background information about myself.  I grew up north of Miles and attended East Central until its closing, later graduating from Preston before the creation of the Easton Valley district.  I attended college at UW-Platteville majoring in broadfield social studies education and played college baseball there as well.  Upon graduation I accepted a position in Perry, IA teaching 7th grade social studies and coaching varsity baseball and middle school football.  Following Perry, I taught 6th grade social studies at North Polk CSD and also coached baseball and football.  During my time at North Polk I completed my PK-12 Principal/Supervisor of Special Education degree through Viterbo University based out of the West Des Moines campus.  This led me to my current position in Maquoketa where I have served as the Dean of Students the past two years.  My wife, Stefanie, is originally from the Bellevue area and works for the Jackson County Extension Office.  We live in Maquoketa and have a 7 month old daughter named Josie and a rather unique dog named Ozzy.  I enjoy hunting, fishing, traveling, and reading.  I am also an avid St. Louis Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and Iowa Hawkeyes fan.

Entering this position I would like to make clear my overarching goal of developing and maintaining a safe, positive, welcoming, and inclusive learning environment for students and staff members to come to each day.  Easton Valley’s mission statement of “EVery student, EVery day” is the message that will be communicated and the centerpiece of the school culture we will continually work together to build.  In addition, an EV community member who has now passed away lived by the motto of “do it for the kids.”  This is a message that I will keep alive through my actions and service to others in the district.

I look forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new faces alike.  I am eager to get started, and I have tremendous hope that together we will do great things at Easton Valley.

With Gratitude,

Austin Daniels