Paul Erlebach retired from the superintendency of the Neah-Kah-Nie School district firstly of July, ending a 35-year career in education, and being succeeded by Dr. Tyler Reed.
Erlebach credited his longevity with Neah-Kah-Nie, the place he served 11 years as superintendent, to relationships with district stakeholders built on belief that yielded strong results.
“I’ve felt just like the district was dedicated to and invested in me and I felt like I was invested and dedicated to the district,” Erlebach stated. “You do want to take a position in the community if you want the neighborhood to put money into you.”
Born in Ontario, Oregon, Erlebach began his educating profession in Spain when he ran out of cash there after a long bicycle trip throughout the United States and Europe. “In Spain, it was either choosing oranges or instructing English, so I decided I higher educate English,” Erlebach joked.
Erlebach’s mom was a special schooling trainer and he began teaching youth sports when he was in middle and high school, drawing him to being concerned with youth from an early age. These components combined with Erlebach’s curiosity in being a lifelong learner to draw him to the sphere of schooling.
“I’ve always placed myself as a learner so I can understand the educational, the educating and the learning process,” Erlebach mentioned.
After teaching English in Spain for a couple years, Erlebach returned to the University of Guanajuato in central Mexico, where he had earned his undergraduate diploma, and continued teaching. Erlebach subsequently returned to Oregon, settling in The Dalles, where he taught Spanish for 12 years. Erlebach then moved to Ontario, the place he was an elementary and middle school principal for an additional dozen years.
By the early 2010s, Erlebach was able to turn out to be a superintendent and utilized for and accepted the position with Neah-Kah-Nie.
Over the past 11 years, Erlebach has worked with 22 different board members on many initiatives which have improved the district. Erlebach was particularly proud of the expansion of the district’s preschool choices from a single, half-day possibility on the district workplace, to two, full-day options at Nehalem and Garibaldi Elementary Schools. He also talked about the opening of a school-based well being middle and hiring of a full-time nurse, enhancements to trace and field amenities, a renovation of the stage and construction trades classroom as different factors of delight throughout his tenure.
Erlebach additionally praised the district’s response to the covid pandemic, which he mentioned was made easier by a preexisting emphasis on expertise within the classroom. All students from second through twelfth grades already had a Chromebook when the move to distance learning occurred in March 2020, smoothing the transition.
Those successful outcomes got here thanks of a range of factors according to Erlebach, foremost among them strong relationships built on trust and open communications. “If you’re not an effective communicator with the general public, with the employees, with the board, then you’re not going to last very long,” Erlebach mentioned.
Erlebach credited his bilingualism as a serving to to facilitate those communications and pointed to the district’s steady enchancment plan as providing a powerful framework for achievement. That plan assesses district insurance policies and practices on an annual foundation to find out which are working and which aren’t, before revising those insurance policies and practices.
Erlebach stated that he was assured Reed would continue to use the plan and have a profitable tenure with the district. He famous that his predecessor had additionally had an 11-year tenure with the district and expressed hope that Reed would experience similar longevity.
“The district is very fortunate to have anyone from the skin to give that exterior perspective, to have that kind of beginner’s mind, to see issues in another way, and hopefully he’ll have as a lot enjoyable as I had,” Erlebach said.
Having helped with Reed’s transition, Erlebach has now begun enjoying his retirement. “Retirement caught up with me, although in Spanish it’s called jubilation, so I’m jubilating, I’m not retiring,” Erlebach said.
Erlebach plans to travel with his spouse and spend more time with their son and extended family, whereas persevering with to stay in Manzanita. He mentioned he would stay energetic in the community, but not with the school district, in order that Reed would have the time and house to run the district.
Erlebach thanked the district for his time as superintendent and the robust relationships he had shaped and mentioned he felt lucky to have experienced all totally different features of education during his profession.
“It’s been a wonderful experience seeing all completely different aspects and responsibilities of teaching and being a principal after which being superintendent so I got to see the whole gamut of education,” Erlebach said.
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