New 7-12 principal moving here from Alaska

    Christopher Barr spent 2007-08 teaching and coaching in Cambridge, a town 88 miles east of Imperial.
    While a new school opportunity took him and his future wife to North Carolina after only a year in Cambridge, he said they fell in love with the community and Nebraska.
    “I felt one day I’d be back,” he said.
    Barr’s prediction came true. The 42-year-old was hired Monday as the new 7-12 principal at Chase County Schools.
    He’ll replace Principal Mike Sorensen, who tendered his resignation effective the end of the 2021-22 school year.
    Barr earned a B.A. degree in social studies in 2003,  graduating cum laude from Fairmont State University in West Virginia, then stayed in his home state for four years teaching in Berkley County until 2007.
    As a 27-year-old then, he said he wanted to “see what was out there,” having spent all of his life in West Virginia.
    “I remember clearly saying I wanted to go somewhere new. And Nebraska was calling,” he said.
    Barr said he’s unsure what drew him to the Nebraska Department of Education website, which had a large number of open teaching positions listed, one of them in Cambridge.
    He was hired as a middle school social studies teacher and head high school boys’ basketball coach.
    His girlfriend at the time, now his wife, came with him to Nebraska. She’s also an educator, and worked as a substitute teacher in several schools in and around Cambridge.
    The unique opportunity that took him back east was a U.S. history honors teaching position at Craven Early College in New Bern, North Carolina.
    It was a new educational concept then and West Virginia was one of the first states incorporating it, he said. At the non-traditional high school, students attend a five-year program and have the opportunity to graduate both with a high school diploma and up to two years of college credit.
    He spent four years there from 2008-12, then accepted his first administrative job as assistant principal at J.T. Barber Elementary School, also in New Bern.
    After two years, he accepted his first position in Alaska, where he continues to live.
    He moved to Alaska as principal of Akiachak K-12 School in Akiachak, a small fly-in village of 1,000, from 2014-16.
    “It was in Akiachak that I learned of relationship building with my staff,” he said.
    From there, he moved to Anchorage as principal of the Rilke Schule German Immersion School of Arts & Sciences from 2016-21 where he said he spent “five wonderful years.”
    For the past year, he’s served as the Anchorage School District Director of Charter Schools, where he supervises nine schools and the professional development of its staff.
    Along the way, Barr earned a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Gardner-Webb University.
    His wife Amanda currently serves as K-12 math curriculum coordinator for the Anchorage School District.
    She’s a graduate of West Virginia University and holds a Master’s degree in secondary education/mathematics.
Moving in July
    Barr said he expects to move to Imperial in late July several days before his Aug. 1 CCS contract begins.
    His current contract in Anchorage runs through June 30.
    He was one of four who interviewed for the CCS position, out of seven who applied. He said the school and its students impressed him.
    “The school is amazing. The kids and staff were so respectful. The best part of my tour there was meeting the teachers and staff,” he said.
    He was impressed, too, with the fact CCS students engaged in conversation with him.
    Karl Meeske, CCS board president, said Barr’s experience as a principal was key in his hiring, as well as his current position with charter schools.
    Meeske said Barr indicated he wanted to get back into a principal’s role and spend more time with students.
    Barr’s contract, which includes a first year salary of $120,000, was approved on a 6-0 vote.