Eunice Thomas Elementary to see change in leadership
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In above left photo, Catherine Weaver is retiring as principal of Eunice Thomas Elementary at Cassville.
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Mindi Gates (above) is leaving the position of Superintendent for Purdy R-II Schools. She has accepted the position of prinicpal for Eunice Thomas Elementary in Cassville.
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In above right photo, Lisa Schell was chosen to fill the new assistant principal position for Eunice Thomas Elementery and Cassville Intermediate Schools.
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February 17, 2021
Sheila Harris
Retiring Eunice Thomas Elementary principal, Catherine Weaver, labels herself an anomaly in the Cassville district.
“I started working for the district as an instructional assistant, after my husband and I moved here from Hannibal,” she said. “I later when on to become certified, first as a teacher, then as an administrator.”
Weaver taught first grade for five years, before taking on the role of elementary principal that she’s now retiring from after 22 years.
Weaver says she plans to focus more on her family after retirement, which includes her husband, James Weaver - pastor at First Baptist Church in Casville - and her two adult daughters and four grandchildren.
While she said COVID-19 may have played a part in her decision to retire (something she was eligible to do two years ago), the death of both her mother and father-in-law in December also had a large influence on her decision.
“I don’t care how much you think you know or how much experience you’ve had,” Weaver said, “circumstances can change drastically and make everything different. Sometimes they force you to reexamine your priorities.”
Weaver said it will be bittersweet to leave the students and staff with whom she’s spent so much time.
“I’ve been in this position long enough to have had a say in hiring most of the teachers here,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed working with all of them and will really miss them.”
Mindi Gates, of Cassville, who is currently filling the position of superintendent of the Purdy R-II School District, will be transitioning to the role of Eunice Thomas Elementary principal with the beginning of the fall 2021 semester.
Gates has nothing but praise for the Purdy community and school district, where she is serving as superintendent for the second year.
“They have treated me so well. The staff and the teachers are some of the highest quality there is, and the community has stood behind me,” Gates said. “I’m very grateful.”
Gates emphasizes that she plans to keep her focus on her commitment to the students and community in Purdy throughout the remainder of the school year, but she is also excited about her new position in Cassville beginning in the fall.
“It will be like going home,” said Gates, who taught third grade in Cassville for ten years, the school where she also graduated from high school.
Gates has been superintendent at Purdy for the past two years, where she will be greatly missed says R-II communications correspondent, Susan Funkhouser.
Prior to serving as superintendent, Gates held the positions of associate superintendent and K-12 instructional coach in 2013.
In December 2015 she was appointed the district’s first associate superintendent, where she created and implemented the Late Start Monday program, which affords educators a dedicated time of professional development and collaboration at the beginning of each new week.
Gates also established Fall Title One Family Nights, bringing parents, children and educators together to reinforce learning and provide opportunities for family bonding and memory making.
As superintendent for Purdy R-II, she oversaw the design and installation of a new high school gymnasium floor and led students and faculty through the immense challenges of the spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, including a modified, yet meaningful graduation and other senior celebrations.
As students returned to seated school in fall 2020, she implemented a successful masking and social distancing policy, among many other safety measures.
“School-related COVID-19 quarantine numbers and positive cases consistently have been lower than the area average because of her efforts,” Funkhouser said.
“Among students, Gates is famous for greeting each one by name at the door every morning,” Funkhouser added.
Funkhouser believes staff members flourished individually and as a professional team under Gates’ leadership.
Lisa Schell, of Cassville, has been an instructor with the Cassville R-IV School District since 2002 when she taught first grade. After attaining a Master’s Degree in Reading, she has worked as a Reading Interventionist and a Reading Recovery Specialist with elementary children who need extra help with reading. She now serves as an instructional coach.
After the recent marriage of her youngest child, Schell felt like the time was right to transition into the administration field, so she applied for the position of Cassville elementary principal soon to be open.
Instead, she said, she was offered the job of assistant principal for not just Eunice Thomas Elementary, but for the Intermediate School, too. It was a position previously non-existent.
“I knew they’d been talking for the past few years about adding an assistant principal position,” she said, “but nothing had ever been decided. I knew the position was needed, though. Imagine my surprise to have it offered to me.”
She says her job as assistant principal will free up the principals from both the elementary and the intermediate schools, so they can spend more time with students.
Schell, who lives in Cassville with her husband Danny, says she’s looking forward to working with new principal, Mindi Gates, who was her daughter’s third grade teacher when Gates taught in Cassville.
Schell’s oldest daughter is a school nurse for the Cassville district, and her son is a meteorologist for the Air Force.
Sheila Harris
Retiring Eunice Thomas Elementary principal, Catherine Weaver, labels herself an anomaly in the Cassville district.
“I started working for the district as an instructional assistant, after my husband and I moved here from Hannibal,” she said. “I later when on to become certified, first as a teacher, then as an administrator.”
Weaver taught first grade for five years, before taking on the role of elementary principal that she’s now retiring from after 22 years.
Weaver says she plans to focus more on her family after retirement, which includes her husband, James Weaver - pastor at First Baptist Church in Casville - and her two adult daughters and four grandchildren.
While she said COVID-19 may have played a part in her decision to retire (something she was eligible to do two years ago), the death of both her mother and father-in-law in December also had a large influence on her decision.
“I don’t care how much you think you know or how much experience you’ve had,” Weaver said, “circumstances can change drastically and make everything different. Sometimes they force you to reexamine your priorities.”
Weaver said it will be bittersweet to leave the students and staff with whom she’s spent so much time.
“I’ve been in this position long enough to have had a say in hiring most of the teachers here,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed working with all of them and will really miss them.”
Mindi Gates, of Cassville, who is currently filling the position of superintendent of the Purdy R-II School District, will be transitioning to the role of Eunice Thomas Elementary principal with the beginning of the fall 2021 semester.
Gates has nothing but praise for the Purdy community and school district, where she is serving as superintendent for the second year.
“They have treated me so well. The staff and the teachers are some of the highest quality there is, and the community has stood behind me,” Gates said. “I’m very grateful.”
Gates emphasizes that she plans to keep her focus on her commitment to the students and community in Purdy throughout the remainder of the school year, but she is also excited about her new position in Cassville beginning in the fall.
“It will be like going home,” said Gates, who taught third grade in Cassville for ten years, the school where she also graduated from high school.
Gates has been superintendent at Purdy for the past two years, where she will be greatly missed says R-II communications correspondent, Susan Funkhouser.
Prior to serving as superintendent, Gates held the positions of associate superintendent and K-12 instructional coach in 2013.
In December 2015 she was appointed the district’s first associate superintendent, where she created and implemented the Late Start Monday program, which affords educators a dedicated time of professional development and collaboration at the beginning of each new week.
Gates also established Fall Title One Family Nights, bringing parents, children and educators together to reinforce learning and provide opportunities for family bonding and memory making.
As superintendent for Purdy R-II, she oversaw the design and installation of a new high school gymnasium floor and led students and faculty through the immense challenges of the spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, including a modified, yet meaningful graduation and other senior celebrations.
As students returned to seated school in fall 2020, she implemented a successful masking and social distancing policy, among many other safety measures.
“School-related COVID-19 quarantine numbers and positive cases consistently have been lower than the area average because of her efforts,” Funkhouser said.
“Among students, Gates is famous for greeting each one by name at the door every morning,” Funkhouser added.
Funkhouser believes staff members flourished individually and as a professional team under Gates’ leadership.
Lisa Schell, of Cassville, has been an instructor with the Cassville R-IV School District since 2002 when she taught first grade. After attaining a Master’s Degree in Reading, she has worked as a Reading Interventionist and a Reading Recovery Specialist with elementary children who need extra help with reading. She now serves as an instructional coach.
After the recent marriage of her youngest child, Schell felt like the time was right to transition into the administration field, so she applied for the position of Cassville elementary principal soon to be open.
Instead, she said, she was offered the job of assistant principal for not just Eunice Thomas Elementary, but for the Intermediate School, too. It was a position previously non-existent.
“I knew they’d been talking for the past few years about adding an assistant principal position,” she said, “but nothing had ever been decided. I knew the position was needed, though. Imagine my surprise to have it offered to me.”
She says her job as assistant principal will free up the principals from both the elementary and the intermediate schools, so they can spend more time with students.
Schell, who lives in Cassville with her husband Danny, says she’s looking forward to working with new principal, Mindi Gates, who was her daughter’s third grade teacher when Gates taught in Cassville.
Schell’s oldest daughter is a school nurse for the Cassville district, and her son is a meteorologist for the Air Force.
