West Nodaway hires Mitch Barnes as 6-12 principal

The West Nodaway Board of Education selected Mitch Barnes as the 6-12 principal for the 2019-20 school year during its February 7 meeting.

Barnes is currently serving as 7-12 principal at Braymer School District, a position he has held for 10 years. Also at Braymer, he served as K-12 principal and interim superintendent.

Originally from Trenton, he began his education career as a junior high/high school social studies teacher and coached several sports at Clinton County R-3, North Mercer R-3 and North Davies R-3.

“I am excited about coming to West Nodaway,” Barnes said. “I believe the staff, students and school have unlimited potential. My educational interests are in the area of student achievement and professional development, and I hope to use my knowledge and skills to further the academic progress of the district.”

Barnes has signed a 10-month contract for an agreed upon $75,500 salary. He will begin in August.

“We are excited to have Mr. Barnes join the West Nodaway R-I School District,” Superintendent Shannon Nolte said. “His vast amount of experience and leadership from his experiences at Braymer and other schools will be a great asset to our school.

“His experience and development of instructional and professional programs, that we already have in place here, will bring a fresh look that will improve our programs to make them better for student learning and the culture we are building at West Nodaway. His administrative expertise will add a great deal to our administrative team and district leadership team here as well.”

Holly Brady and Nolte will continue to cover the preschool through eighth and high school principal positions respectively for the remainder of this school year.

Nolte anticipates he and Brady will consult with Barnes about planning for the 2019-20 school year.