BY KAREN BOSSICK

Two high school principals have announced their decision to retire at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

Silver Creek High School Principal Mike Glenn and Carey School Principal John Peck will step down at the end of June.

• Mike Glenn, who has been Silver Creek’s principal for the past nine years, helped engineer significant increases in graduation rates and academic growth at that school. His leadership, combined with a staff that focuses on making personal connections, allowed SCHS to embrace a competency-based secondary education model.

  Transitioning to the Idaho Mastery Education Network, which emphasizes skills needed to succeed in the workforce, from a traditional model required a lot of work with a lot of uncertainty, he noted. But  a passionate staff went beyond the call of duty in changing how education happens at Silver Creek, he added.

  Before arriving at SCHS, Glenn spent seven years as a teacher and coach at Wood River High School. Prior to that, he served for 21 years as a teacher and coach in the Meridian School District, now the West Ada School District.

   “I want to thank Mr. Glenn for his incredible leadership of SCHS over the past several years and for the commitment he has demonstrated for students throughout his career in education,” said Fritz Peters, interim superintendent of the Blaine County School District. “There is no question that the school has reached even greater heights under his leadership.”

• John Peck was hired in Blaine County in 1994 and has served as a Vice-Principal at Wood River High School and Principal at Carey since 2001.

There, he embraced Stephen Covey’s Leader in Me program for the elementary grades and the study of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens at the secondary level.

“Over his time at Carey School, Mr. Peck has built a community-oriented culture, with a team of highly qualified teachers and skilled paraprofessionals who work together to provide the very best educational experience to students,” said Peters. “Mr. Peck has been very committed to the Leader in Me program and developed Carey School into a Lighthouse School as identified by their strong mentorship program. He has always put student achievements above all else and he is a great advocate for the kids and their successes.”

The district has already begun the process to find the two men’s replacements.

Peters, who has announced his intention to retire this summer when James Foudy takes over as superintendent, has already been succeeded in his former position as principal at Wood River Middle School by Rob Ditch.