March 29, 2024

‘They are my people’

Meet new Baxter superintendent Dr. Mickolyn Clapper

For the past two decades, Dr. Mickolyn Clapper has called Baxter home. Now, as the new superintendent of the Baxter School District, she also gets to work for her hometown.

“I’m most excited just to be able to lead this district,” Clapper said. “It is a great district and they are doing so many good things. Just getting to be a part of that is really exciting.”

Originally from Algona, Clapper came to the community in 1996, after marrying her husband, Trent, who is a native of Baxter. In her career, she received her undergraduate degree in biology from Iowa State University and had her first teaching position in the Colfax-Mingo school district as a middle school science and TAG teacher.

After five years, Clapper moved on to the Colo-NESCO district where she taught high school biology and began work on her masters degree, which she received in education leadership and policy studies. At that time, the elementary principal position opened up in Colo-NESCO and Clapper was selected for the job.

While working as a principal, Clapper made the decision to pursue her doctorate degree from Drake University. She also had the opportunity to move to the Nevada school district as assistant elementary principal and special education director.

“It was a bit bigger and I got a new experience,” Clapper said. “It was an excellent experience.”

Clapper also continued to finish her doctorate degree in educational leadership. In the course of her studies, she ended up in Baxter, working on her dissertation research which focused on open enrollment.

“Baxter has such high open enrollment. I talked with parents of kids who open enrolled, administrators and community members. I was just looking at what makes this place special,” Clapper said. “It is a great little school, but they just have exceptionally high open enrollment in. One out of every four kids chooses to come here, something is happening to get then to come here.”

Little did she know not long after receiving her degree and superintendent licensure a position would open up in her backyard. After interviewing July 30, Clapper was selected out of 22 candidates for the position and started just a week later on Aug. 6.

“For me, it was perfect timing when this position opened up,” Clapper said.

With only a few days on the job, Clapper is already hard at work in the district she has come to know and love. From working toward the potential bond issue for the building project to continuing to build on standards reference grading, she is more than excited to move into the future with Baxter.

“I’m super excited about the possibility of the bond issue. It is kind of ironic, in 2004, when they had a bond committee, I worked on it as a mom,” Clapper said.

She is also looking forward to getting know community members as a professional. While she treasures the title of “mom” to Courtney, Will and Trice, her three children, she now has the entire community’s children to work for, as well.

“People know me, but the struggle with that is people know me as a mom, they don’t know me as a professional. To see me in a different light will be exciting and to work in my home town,” Clapper said. “I love my job and I love working with kids, but this is different, this is working for the kids, my own kids and the kids I have loved seeing grow up. These are kids I know and care about, they are my people.”

Clapper said the community feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with nice emails and messages coming her way since she was announced in the position. With the school year starting in a week, she is ready to begin serving the children and the community that she calls home.

“Baxter is a great community that is super supportive of things going on at the school,” Clapper said. “I am honored to be a part of it.”

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com