River Oaks School Dr. David Nordman Joins as Headmaster BY DR. DAVID NORDMAN, HEADMASTER
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VER A SPAN OF 32 YEARS, I have had the privilege of working as a school administrator, classroom teacher and athletic coach in the Northeast Louisiana area. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science from Northeast Louisiana University, my first teaching position/coaching assignment was at St. Frederick High School in 1982. I was fortunate to serve at this location for four years as a teacher/coach and finished the last two years as the Athletic Director. At the young age of 26, I made the decision to improve my earning ability and accepted a position with Adria Laboratories as a pharmaceutical sales representative. I soon found that this position required me to be away from home too often, and it did not fill a void in my life that allowed me to serve and guide our young people. In the fall of 1988, I received an offer to join the staff of Wossman High School under the direction of Principal Grady Jones and Coach Ray Gambino. I believe that this was a calling from God to get me back in to the education field and learn to work in a very diverse student population. This experience allowed me to be a small part in an outstanding school with a strong athletic prowess and an impressive Honor’s program. At Wossman High School, we were fortunate to win several district championships in football and baseball. Several of my former students have become teachers, administrators, lawyers, elected officials, coaches, professional athletes, and many have served our country with military careers. In 1993, I accepted an offer to be a Graduate Assistant Strength Coach at
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Northeast Louisiana University. I primarily worked with the football program, but also spent time with baseball, basketball, softball and volleyball. This experience culminated with a Master of Education degree in 1994. Wossman High School offered me to come back as Defensive Coordinator for the football team and I accepted this offer. During my year back at Wossman, my wife Ellen and I were married in the spring of 1995. We would have a blended family of two boys and three girls. Shortly after we were married, I received an offer to come to Ouachita Parish High School as a teacher and a coach. All of our children were going to school in this system and I gladly accepted the offer in order to be aligned with my own children’s education. While at Ouachita High School, I began to complete my Master’s Plus 30 in order to become certified as a school administrator. After teaching and coaching for seven years at Ouachita High School, I was offered an opportunity to teach and work a half day as an administrator at Ouachita Jr. High School. This was a perfect fit because it gave a chance to “get my feet wet” as an administrator. During my tenure in Ouachita Parish, I was able to work directly under some outstanding administrators. Dr. Robert Webber, Todd Guice and Gary Armstrong and Richard Hartley provided me valuable experience to begin the transition from a teacher to an administrator. In the summer of 2003, I accepted the offer to come to Morehouse Parish as principal of Morehouse Magnet School. This school has long been a shining star in the Morehouse Parish School System, receiving the highest School Performance Score rating as an A
school. During the four years I served at this site, we stayed in the top 15 of nearly 3000 public schools in the state of Louisiana. After my fourth year, I was offered the position of Supervisor of Secondary Schools and Curriculum for the district. I served in this position for six years before accepting the principalship of Bastrop High School. I have served as principal of Bastrop High School for four years. During my time of service in Morehouse Parish, I have served the state of Louisiana as an Executive Committee Member of the Louisiana Association of School Executives (LASE), an Excecutive Committee Member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, and have served on the advisory board of the Morehouse Parish School Based Clinics, Louisiana Workforce Investment Board #82 Youth Council Member, the SAFER Task Force to prevent domestic violence in Morehouse Parish, and various civic and educational committees. In addition to working and serving in these capacities, I was also able to attain my Doctorate in Education Leadership from the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 2013. It is with extreme honor that I am accepting the position of Headmaster at River Oaks School in Monroe, Louisiana. River Oaks is a prestigious school of academic and student life excellence that has been under the outstanding leadership of Dr. Tom Middleton for over 20 years. My hope and desire is that we are able to sustain the momentum and accomplishments of his direction and make a great school even better.