The Washington Community Schools Board has announced Mr. Steve Peterson as the next Assistant Superintendent of Washington Community Schools. Mr. Peterson will fill the role vacated by Mr. Frank beginning July 1, 2022.
Mr. Peterson has provided the guidance for the creation of the College and Career Academy at WHS, and in 2020, he was recognized as the IASP Region 11 HS Principal of the Year. Under his leadership, WHS has increased the number of dual credit opportunities and AP offerings for students.
As a cornerstone of the College & Career Academy at WHS, Project Lead the Way programs were expanded to include the Biomed and the Computer Science curriculums, providing students access to highly engaging STEM courses. During his tenure there have been additional resources added through the counseling office to assist in Social Emotional Learning support as well as college guidance and career placement. Mr. Peterson came to WHS six years ago and oversaw the HS implementation of Chromebooks. He was instrumental in creating an eLearning policy designed to minimize learning loss during school closures.
Mr. Peterson has dedicated his entire career to public education, first becoming a math teacher at Reitz HS. He knew early on that administration was his calling, and first entered that side of education as an assistant principal & athletic director at Loogootee JR/SR HS. He then headed north to continue to serve as an assistant principal at Hobart HS, before his first assignment as principal at Gavit MS/HS. Prior to his arrival at WHS, Mr. Peterson was principal of East Noble HS where he successfully led a school turnaround. Mr. Peterson has his BS degree from Indiana University South Bend and his MEd & EdS degrees from Indiana State University.
“I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve and learn from a wide variety of experiences over my career. I will miss the day to day interactions that a principal has with his students; however, the opportunity to work with the entire school district has always been a passion of mine,” said Mr. Peterson. Even though Mr. Peterson has spent much of his career in the secondary side; he did serve as interim principal at Ridgeview Elementary School. “That was a truly remarkable and exciting opportunity for me” says Peterson, “I was taller than most of the kids so I could almost see to the ends of the hallways during passing times. It was a great experience to see and be part of the
dedicated world of elementary schools.”
Mr. Peterson has been able to work very closely with Kevin Frank in their current capacities at WCS, and he states, “I am excited to have Mr. Peterson move into the assistant superintendent’s role. In his time at Washington High School, he has guided his staff on a path to build what we consider a model high school for providing college and career pathways for all of our students. His enthusiasm and passion for always looking to make improvements has led to the addition of STEM programs like PLTW BioMed and Computer Science that have come about during his time as WHS principal. As we strive to be a school district that leads in STEM education and College and Career preparedness, his leadership will help us build in these areas from Preschool to 12th grade.”
