Menu
Skomp to be student-focused as South Putnam assistant
As teachers and students get ready for a new school year, South Putnam recently welcomed a new assistant principal who wants to place a value on interacting and supporting students.
The South Putnam School Board approved hiring John Skomp to fill the vacancy left by Zach Love at South Putnam Middle/High School during its regular meeting last week.
Skomp earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis in 2012, and later earned a master’s degree in education there in 2014. He taught chemistry and physics at Cascade High School from 2013 to 2017 and then earned a master’s in educational business administration from the University of Indianapolis.
Skomp then served as dean of students at New Albany High School from 2017 to 2020. Immediately prior to coming to South Putnam, he served as director of digital convergence and innovation at Salem Community Schools.
Skomp told the Banner Graphic that he enjoyed working with students at Cascade. The same went for being at New Albany, and he realized he wanted to get back to that after being in his position at Salem.
“I loved my job last year, but I was a little too far away from kids, so I wanted to be able to get back working with kids one-on-one,” he said. “South Putnam was a great place to do that. I like the small-school setting where you feel a lot like a family, and we can help kids improve their futures.”
Skomp said he brings a focus on students and fostering a positive learning environment and making every day “a great day of education.” Creating relationships at Cascade, New Albany and Salem means he knows how to work individually with students.
“That’s what I want to bring here: When I work with a kid, anyone who comes into my office, they leave a better person than when they came in,” Skomp said. “And we’re always going to focus on what their plan is; where they want to go after this; how can we make today a great day so we can move toward that plan.”
Working one-on-one with students and moving forward is ultimately what Skomp is looking forward to the most being the assistant principal. He emphasized that he is still learning the job and does not want to make a lot of changes.
“We want to make sure that we’re raising the bar for everybody and setting expectations a little higher than they were last year,” Skomp said. “It’s building those relationships to let kids know that we care about them and we want what’s best for them.”