Despite traveling across the state to settle into a new position at a brand new modern facility, Corey Ramsey figures he can handle whatever is tossed at him. Says the baseball lover and new Principal at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School, “I honestly feel I am prepared for just about any curveball thrown my way.”
Much of the confidence exuded by this native of the Quad Cities area comes from his time spent at the most recent stop on his journey in education. Williams is an urban intermediate school on the west side of Davenport. “I spent a lot of time addressing behavior, attendance, and addressing tier 1, 2, and 3 instruction for a very diverse population at Williams,” said Ramsey. “These are all areas identified by our HMS Middle School Staff they felt needed to be addressed. While I have worked in a lot of places, Williams had a knack for providing me new experiences I had not run into previously.”
Ramsey arrives at HMS with a background in special education. He was, in fact, Head of Special Education/Facilitator at Williams. His first year in that building, there were about 650 students in grades 6-8. Of those students, 200 (or about the same number as in the entire HMS Middle School) had Individualized Education Programs (IEP’s) for which Ramsey was responsible.
“Williams is an incredibly challenging building in regard to academics, behaviors, retaining staff, and working with the district office that is managing a very large district,” explained Ramsey. “It was an incredibly rewarding experience as there were a number of opportunities to make positive changes in students’ lives, but there was also a lot of frustration as you were often fighting a home culture that had negative experiences in school and lack trust in the schools. And while I had a very supportive principal in making needed changes, I often felt we were being held back by the district in making many of those needed changes.”
The number of staff members at HMS Middle School is similar to the number that Ramsey was managing at the Williams special ed department. “The staff in both locations are truly passionate about providing their students the best education they can,” noted the new principal. “The difference comes in the opportunity to make change. A smaller district and smaller building, less safety concerns for our staff and students, and smaller class sizes mean more focus on areas of needed improvement. This is what I am most excited about!”
The HMS Middle School Principal position opened up when Mark Dorhout moved closer to family. Ramsey, who grew up in Eldridge, just north of Davenport, explains why the opening was attractive to him. “We vacationed in this area last year and loved it, so this part of Iowa was on my list to monitor,” he said. “I like to lead more than manage, so I was looking for a building that was in need of some change. In my research, I thought HMS might be a good fit, and the interview confirmed this.”
Ramsey’s teaching resume in Iowa and Illinois includes rural and urban schools and from K-12 up to the college level and the AEA. “I have taught P.E., health, and all of the four core areas in both general education and special education classes,” said Ramsey. “I have also taught in a self-contained special education building. Outside of school, I own and manage rental properties and have spent a summer remodeling one of them. When you consider all the hats a principal at HMS Middle School has to wear, I feel I have worn most of those hats at some point in my career.”
The 45-year-old holds degrees and endorsements from Iowa State, Western Illinois and Morningside. It was at Western Illinois that he earned his Masters in Educational Leadership (as a 4.0 GPA student no less). Ramsey’s wife, Lindsey will also be busy at HMS as she is the elementary literacy specialist. The couple live in Sanborn with their two youngest children, Teagan, age 4 and Ainsley, age 7. There are three older children as well. Zachary, 20, studies at the University of Iowa, Kari, 22, is a student at Iowa State University and Morgan, 24, lives in Des Moines.
And what are the new principal’s impressions of the HMS District? “I love it,” said Ramsey. “The community is friendly and incredibly supportive. The superintendent knows what is needed to take HMS to the next level. The staff wants to do great things for their students; I think they just need some direction.”
The Ramseys engage in a number of pursuits to occupy their spare time. “Lindsey and I love to travel,” said the principal. “We also love baseball, so our goal is to hit every major league baseball park. We love camping with our two little ones. On a more weekly basis, I enjoy working out, playing guitar with our praise band at church, and spending time with my girls! Previously, we lived in a neighborhood that would organically create gatherings in our driveways or get together to play cards. I have been too busy to miss that so far, but I am looking forward to getting to know our community and create similar friendships as we get settled in.”
Ramsey’s plate has indeed been full since he arrived in district. “I have met one-to-one with just about every one of our staff members and learned a lot about our strengths and challenges,” he related. “We have created a schedule that eliminates a lot of unstructured and non-instructional time and allows for intervention and extension for our students. We have some initiatives new to HMS we are planning for that were structures we had been doing for up to 10 years already on the east side of Iowa. It has been a busy July and will be very busy August!”
Ramsey is anticipating it will take some time for all to acclimate themselves to the new Middle School building. “There will most definitely be challenges,” admitted the new head man. “I think the building of the elementary building gave us insight into that. When you build a school that is different from any other school you have ever taught in with regard to collaborative space and being mobile as a teacher, there are going to be adjustments. We are working through those challenges, and I have been very impressed how our staff as a whole have been focused on the opportunities of this new building and not so much on what it isn’t.” He went on to say, “I have also worked with contractors on new additions personally, and I know new does not mean perfect. We will continue to run into issues that will need to be addressed, but that would be expected.”
The new principal wants to see HMS become an even better middle school and he knows his primary role in facilitating that. “My most important job is to put our great teachers in the best position to meet the many needs of our students, and then get out of their way,” stated Ramsey. “Most of my focus right now is getting our student proficiency scores up. We also have some big ideas on getting our community involved with both our building and the education of our students. It takes a village, and we have a community that has a lot to offer our young people!”