Steelville R-3 School District has announced the hiring of Beth Setzer as its new middle school principal.

Currently a first-grade teacher and Administrative Intern at the elementary school, Setzer will step into the role at the beginning of next school year.

Originally from Illinois, Setzer began her career in education at Viburnum, teaching preschool and fourth grade. After nine years, she transferred to St. James to teach seventh grade communication arts and eighth grade creative writing.

When her son decided to attend high school in Steelville, she followed along and found an opening to teach first grade. She’s been at Steelville for three years now, and during that time, she’s become a certified reading specialist, earned her master’s in language and literacy and obtained her administration certification.

This school year, she’s also been working under Elementary Principal Candice Richter in the administrative internship program. Setzer said the program has been a great opportunity for her to further her leadership skills and get hands-on experience with how to run a building.

As she looks toward stepping into the new role as a principal, Setzer sees it as a natural next step in her career and an opportunity that she sometimes still feels in awe of.

“I’m ready for the next part (of my career) where I’m leading a building — but not just leading — collaborating with people, supporting teachers,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of administrators over the years myself, and there’s been a lot that have made a very positive influence on me. I’ve just hit that stage in my career where I want to be that for other people.”

Her leadership style centers on collaboration, prioritizing teamwork and uplifting those around her rather than taking a top-down approach.

“It’s working alongside people, finding their strengths and just working together to do what’s best for kids,” Setzer said. “And I’m really looking forward to being a part of that team and back in a middle school atmosphere.”

After teaching for 16 years, she’s seen her fair share of administrative transitions and wants to make this one flow as smoothly as possible for staff. She said that because teachers juggle so much throughout the day, she understands the need for consistency in an administrator’s expectations and routines.

“My first initial goal is to observe, to learn the students, to learn the staff, to learn this building,” Setzer said. “There’s so many components I just want to learn about and watch before I bring anything different to the table. From being a teacher as long as I have, I know how important that is to the staff, to just get to know me, I get to know them, and we figure out how to make this work together.”

When it comes to building student relationships, Setzer said she strives to be an approachable and positive role model, someone students know they can turn to. While she values consistency in expectations, she said showing grace is just as important.

“Listening is so important, not just listening to respond, but listening for understanding,” she said. “And our kids go through a lot, and sometimes their reactions, their behaviors, are stemming from something totally different than what’s happening in that moment.”

Setzer said she knows she has a lot to learn and big shoes to fill, but is encouraged by the middle school’s positive culture and is looking forward to becoming a part of it.

“Being a teacher is so, so important,” she said. “You’re impacting so many lives, but then this is the next step of that, this is the next piece.”