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Chad Rodgers: Leaving GHS no easy decision
A few months from now, Chad Rodgers will depart Greencastle Community School Corp. after six years as Greencastle High School principal.
Six years may not be a long time, but it’s been an eventful period for Rodgers professionally and personally.
As principal, he’s seen the COVID-19 pandemic come and go, shepherding GHS through not only that challenge but also a multi-year renovation process.
Personally, he’s seen two of his children graduate from GHS and even gotten married.
Rodgers didn’t take lightly the decision to leave the Greencastle community he’s come to love.
“I was never looking to leave,” Rodgers told the Banner Graphic following his approval Monday as the next principal at West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School. “There are really two stories here — I am thrilled and excited about West Lafayette, and I am touched here in Greencastle and sad. If it’s a people thing, I wouldn’t ever want to leave these people. Greencastle is full of great people.”
However, when current West Lafayette Principal Ron Shriner decided to retire and the job came open, Rodgers felt he had to consider the possibility.
“When it popped open, it was a tough decision for me,” Rodgers said.
What followed was a period of thinking and praying with his family — wife Natasha and children Madison, Tyler and Jackson — before ultimately deciding to apply.
Consistently ranked as one of Indiana’s top public schools, West Lafayette had a particular appeal for Rodgers. It’s a sort of homecoming for the Purdue graduate who also spent 16 years as a science teacher and coach at nearby Rossville High School.
“It was this kind of crown jewel of a place as I was a teacher and a coach in the Lafayette area,” Rodgers recalled. “It’s just this unique academic experience for a public school that really doesn’t exist in many areas. It was a bucket list thing for me.
“I can remember going to a West Lafayette High School football game when I was at Purdue,” Rodgers added. “And that ended up being an undefeated state championship team that had (future Purdue University and NFL star) Chike Okeafor.
“I have a real connection as an adult with that place,” he continued. “I think it’s a really great, unique opportunity for my family.”
The application obviously went well, as did subsequent interviews
“I kept advancing through this process and I was offered a job in January,” Rodgers said.
At that point, he shared the news, first with his family and then with his staff at the high school.
After the news became official on Monday night, Rodgers informed the GHS students on Tuesday and then the parents with an email that afternoon.
“This was not an easy decision to leave such a tremendous staff and community,” Rodgers wrote to parents. “I will share more of my thoughts and appreciations for this special school and community at a later date.”
Ironically, one of those who spoke in favor of hiring Rodgers in his new position was West Lafayette Community School Corp. board member Brad Marley, a 1981 Greencastle High School graduate.
Rodgers, who will remain with GCSC through June, came to Greencastle in the summer of 2018, leaving behind his former principal’s post at Mt. Vernon Junior High School in Posey County. He originally hales from Newburgh in Warrick County, where he graduated from Castle High School.
While at Greencastle, Rodgers was honored as the District 8 Principal of the Year by the Indiana Association of School Principals in 2021.
“We’d like to thank Chad for his positive contributions and leadership at the high school and leading the building through a major construction project and all the challenges that come with that,” Greencastle Supt. Jeff Gibboney said. “He and his staff have done a great job through that, and we thank him for all he’s done for our students, our staff and our community.
“He’s done a really good job for us and we appreciate that.”
Exactly what comes next at GHS remains to be seen, but Gibboney said the corporation is already at work in moving forward.
“We’re working to put together our plan of leadership at the high school moving forward and looking for continued long-term success at the high school,” Gibboney said.
For his part, Rodgers plans to do whatever he can to make the transition as smooth as possible and continue to guide the school as workers wrap up the construction project.
“The end of the year is business as usual,” Rodgers said. “We are excited to get the building project done. I think our facility is catching up with what we provide here. I’m hoping that we can have graduation and then people can walk through the new space.”
Over the coming months, the expectations will remain the same of students and staff.
“There is no change in my attitude or my focus or what we want to accomplish,” Rodgers said. “We will continue to push our kids hard and offer unique opportunities for our students. I think we’re so diverse here in what we offer.”