With the 2019-2020 school year off to a great start, the Jonathan Alder High School welcomes Clint Hayes to the building as the new principal. “I want all the students to know that they are valued and I want to create a culture where they want to come to school and they want to be here and have fun,” says Hayes. 

This is his sixth year in the district–he served five as principal at the junior high before this year”?“The only main differences between being principal at the Junior High and high school is that there’s a lot more of you guys here. You guys have matured since eighth grade — we don’t do hallway talks anymore!” Hayes laughs, mentioning the notorious ‘hallway talks’ he would do at the Junior High where all the students would sit down in the hallway and he would lecture everybody on cyber-bullying, grades, respect, etc. 

“There wasn’t much, or really any backlash on new rules for the school year, but some students like to remind me every day about wishing they still had their backpacks.” This is in reference to a new policy put into place this school year. The “no backpack rule” was enforced in order to “keep students safe and stop teen vaping.” Whether it’s effective or not, Hayes is only concerned that students know that the rule comes from a good place, along with everything he does.