Welcome back, Stephanie Dix.
The Dunklin R-5 Board of Education voted 6-0 on Jan. 21 to hire Dix, a 2001 Herculaneum High graduate, as the school’s new principal.
Dix, currently an assistant principal at Hillsboro High School, will start her new job at Herculaneum High on July l, replacing John Crabtree, who has held the position since July 2012 and will retire at the end of the current school year.
Crabtree currently makes $119,000 a year. Dix will be paid a $98,000 salary next school year as principal at Herculaneum High. She makes $88,692 a year as an assistant principal at Hillsboro High.
Dunklin R-5 Deputy Superintendent Clint Freeman, who will take over as superintendent July 1 when current superintendent Stan Stratton retires, said Dix was a good choice.
“Mrs. Dix is experienced, insightful and focused on what’s best for kids,” Freeman said. “She will be an excellent addition to our leadership team.”
Dix said she’s looking forward to returning to her alma mater.
“Joining the Dunklin R-5 team is like coming full circle for me,” she said. “Having the opportunity to serve the community where I live and grew up is both exciting and humbling.”
Dix has spent her entire career in education in the Hillsboro R-3 district, beginning in 2007 as a special education teacher at Hillsboro High. During her eight years as a classroom teacher, she became chair of the special education department and served on numerous leadership committees. She became an assistant principal at Hillsboro High in 2015.
“I’ve been blessed being a part of the Hillsboro community for the last 13 years and I’ve loved every minute of it,” Dix said. “I’m moving from one great district to another great district and it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Dix received a bachelor’s degree in special education from Fontbonne University in St. Louis County in 2007, as well as a master’s degree in 2014 and a specialist degree in educational administration in 2019, both from Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis County.
Dix, 36, lives in Pevely with her husband, Glyn, 36, and their children, Gracie, 12, and Ben, 8, who attend Dunklin schools. She said her family enjoys outdoor and sports activities, spending time camping, hiking, floating, attending games and playing with the family’s dogs.
Board member Jim Kasten did not attend the Jan. 21 meeting.