The staff at Mark Twain School has been restructured to meet the evolving needs of students as the nontraditional school enters its sixth year under new leadership.

Maddy Ringer brings to Poplar Bluff Schools a range of teaching experience over the past decade from the lower elementary grade-span to secondary, including working at an alternative school, a STEAM school (science, technology, engineering, art and math), and teaching professional development.

“I always had good administrators, but I noticed in the education world, I just feel like there are things missing—like, why are we having a teacher’s shortage? I can’t wait to come to work,” Ringer observed. “I feel like you should be teaching outside of the box, but the only way to get teachers to make a change is to be an administrator. If it’s a top-down problem, then I want to be at the top to fix the problem.”

Prior to beginning in Poplar Bluff last month, Ringer collaborated with R-I school administrators to restructure the staff at Mark Twain to include a designated counselor, who will also oversee the Jobs for America’s Graduates program. The addition of several retired specialty teachers from reclassified restorative positions that have been vacated has been structured after the district’s high-dosage tutor positions to help deliver direct instruction.

“The goal of the proposed staffing adjustments and addition at the Mark Twain campus is to deliver high-quality, engaging instruction and targeted intervention services while also strengthening mental health and social-emotional supports,” wrote R-I Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Jennifer Taylor in a memo to the Board of Education that was met with unanimous approval in June.

While Mark Twain students, grades 7-12, will return to the North Main Street campus, after being relocated to the Tinnin Fine Arts Center as a result of the March 14 tornado, Middle School alternative students will remain at Victory Lane. Ringer explained that the objective of programming for Junior and Senior High going forward will be to provide the support requisite to return the students at-risk to their home campus.

“We’re redefining what an alternative school looks like, and I can’t wait to see what and where Mark Twain can be,” Ringer continued. “I’m excited to work for the Poplar Bluff School District—there are a lot of the right things going on in the right direction that I’m just glad to be a part of.”

A Bernie native, Ringer initially attended the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla to become a chemical engineer before switching her major to education at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. There she earned her bachelor’s in science, along with a master’s in cross-categorical special education, to advocate for her sister Becky, she shared. Finally, she obtained a specialist degree in administration.

Ringer most recently taught at Bloomfield Elementary before which she spent a year and a half as a content instructional coach in the Regional Professional Development Center of Southeast Missouri State University, in part assisting districts in writing Comprehensive School Improvement Plans under the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Beginning in 2016, Ringer taught at Cape Girardeau Public Schools, including serving a year at the alternative school, where she found her passion. “They just need that extra love in getting redirected. Tomorrow’s a new day,” she said. “All you need to know is no matter what, Ms. Ringer will be there in your corner. That’s the biggest thing.”

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Cutline: Maddy Ringer was hired by the Board of Education in April to succeed Aaron Burton as the next principal of Mark Twain School.