An assistant principal in Aurora has been hired for the top job at
Jonathan Hoerl will take over July 1 at the nearly 1,100-student school. Current Principal Leanne Garcia steps into the job of director of secondary education for 9-R.
Hoerl, pronounced “hurl,” comes to Durango from Overland High School in Cherry Creek, where he has been the assistant principal since 2011.
“We’re probably the most diverse high school in the state,” he said. “African-American for us also includes native Africans who have come from all over the continent; our Latinos come from all over South and Central America; and white for us includes Eastern Europeans and people from the Middle East. I’ve gotten an understanding for what diversity really looks like and gotten to know students from all those backgrounds on a personal basis.”
Overland has 2,300 students who speak 62 different languages, Hoerl said. In addition to 886 families who speak a language other than English in their home, about 336 students are English-language learners.
“It’s been a very intense and influential experience,” he said. “I think one of the reasons I was hired for Durango High School was because of the attention to details around achievement gaps I have, for students on free- and reduced-lunch programs and for students with special needs.”
Hoerl, 39, is a product of the Cherry Creek School District and has worked in the district for 16 years since earning his bachelor’s degree in secondary education with a focus on chemistry and biology at Auburn University. His first posting was at Grandview High School as a science teacher and assistant football and baseball coach, before he moved into administration as dean of students, eventually serving as the athletic director from 2007 to 2011.
“I miss the kids terribly,” he said about being out of the classroom, “but I don’t miss the extensive grading.
“The further up the administration ladder you go, the more purposeful you have to be in working with kids and seeing what sparks their passion.”
Hoerl has earned a master’s degree in administration and is working on his doctorate in organizational leadership.
The hiring process was intense, 9-R Superintendent Dan Snowberger said, with five candidates going through five rounds of interviews, including meeting a student panel as well as with community members and teachers.
“I was worried I’d have to do a lot of mediating to get 45 people to agree on a candidate,” Snowberger told the 9-R school board Tuesday night. “But Jonathan Hoerl was the top choice for 42 people and the second choice for the other three on a straw ballot. It was unanimous.”
Hoerl’s first job will be to fill the two assistant principal vacancies at DHS, Snowberger said.
“We have a huge pool of applicants,” he said. “I’m feeling almost giddy about the many experienced candidates.”
Hoerl is looking forward to sorting through the candidates.
“I want to build a team with a vision for what Year 1, Year 3, Year 5, at Durango High School looks like,” he said.
Hoerl and his wife, Marcia, a teacher, have four children ranging in age from 3 to 11. When he’s not coaching their youth teams in baseball and soccer, the family is hiking and camping.
“You drive into town and you fall in love,” he said. “I’m a very family-centered person, and one of the appeals is raising my family in Durango.”
Progress is being made on the other leadership vacancies in the district, Snowberger said. The district’s new director of finance, Jennifer Macho-Seekins, also starts July 1. Interviews for the principal position at Sunnyside Elementary School should be finished by the end of the week, and an offer for the activities and athletic director at DHS has been made but not officially accepted.
abutler@durangoherald.com
