As the school calendar rolls over to 2023-24, Moorhead Schools has announced the new leadership teams at each school for the upcoming year, with each school having changes among its leadership.
Dorothy Dodds Elementary
Principal: Nancy Wilson
Assistant Principal: Meagan Blake
After serving as the school’s interim principal during the 2022-23 school year, Nancy Wilson has been named Dorothy Dodds Elementary’s principal for the upcoming 2023-24 school year. She has been with MAPS since 2016, serving previously as the assistant principal at Dodds. Meagan Blake joins the leadership team at Dodds after spending three years as assistant principal at Horizon Middle School. Prior to her time as an assistant principal, Blake taught special education at Moorhead High School for 10 years.
Ellen Hopkins Elementary
Principal: Carla Smith
Assistant Principal: Erika Engelking
The leadership team of Carla Smith and Erika Engelking makes the move to Ellen Hopkins Elementary following their year overseeing the re-opening of Probstfield Elementary School in 2022-23. Smith has served as a MAPS principal since 2015, with stops at Probstfield, Horizon Middle School, S.G. Reinertsen Elementary and the online Spud Academy. She was also previously an assistant principal and a fourth and seventh grade teacher. In addition to her time at Probstfield last year, Engelking was also assistant principal at Robert Asp Elementary. Prior to her time with MAPS, she was an elementary school teacher, instructional coach and assistant principal with Fargo Public Schools.
Probstfield Elementary
Principal: Jessica Rieniets
Jessica Rieniets becomes the Probstfield Elementary principal following her work as assistant principal at Robert Asp Elementary. Rieniets has spent her entire educational career with MAPS, becoming an elementary Spanish immersion teacher straight out of college within the district in 2005. She has also been an instructional coach within the district.
Robert Asp Elementary
Principal: Josh St. Louis
Assistant Principal: Lauren Knutson
After six years as the principal at S.G. Reinertsen Elementary, Josh St. Louis has transitioned into the same role at Robert Asp Elementary. St. Louis has been an educator since 2003, joining MAPS in 2006 as an elementary teacher. He was also assistant principal at SGR for two years. Lauren Knutson returns to Moorhead after spending a year as an assistant principal in Fargo. During her previous time at MAPS, Knutson worked as a learning resource strategist and a second and fourth grade teacher at SGR.
S.G. Reinertsen Elementary
Principal: Tiffany Nagel
Assistant Principal: Amanda Mix
Former S.G. Reinertsen Elementary assistant principal Tiffany Nagel returns to SGR in 2023-24 as the school principal. Amid her sixth year as assistant principal at SGR, Nagel departed SGR in the middle of the 2022-23 school year to become principal at Ellen Hopkins Elementary. Previously, she was a third and fifth grade teacher, an instructional coach and an MTSS coordinator. Mix comes to SGR from Ellen Hopkins Elementary, where she was assistant principal—including working with Nagel last school year. She has 16 years of education experience, which also includes working as a support specialist of district multi-tiered systems.
Horizon West Middle School
Principal: Amanda Henry
Assistant Principal: Jeremy Lapka
Dr. Amanda Henry enters her third year as a principal at Horizon Middle School, this year focused on Horizon West.. Prior to her time at Horizon, Henry was assistant principal for one year at Moorhead High School and five years in West Fargo. She began her career at Moorhead as a paraprofessional and teacher. Jeremy Lapka is also in his third year on the Horizon team; he previously worked as a sixth and seventh grade teacher, as well as an upward bound tutor and an adjunct professor in middle school methods.
Horizon East Middle School
Principal: Tera Rolph Sistad
Assistant Principal: Cory Holten
Tera Rolph Sistad steps into the role of principal at Horizon East Middle School for the 2023-24 school year after serving as Horizon East assistant principal. Sistad has 18 years of experience in education, including time as assistant principal in West Fargo and prior teaching and coaching positions. Cory Holten continues his role as Horizon East assistant principal for the second year. Holten returned to Horizon—where he’d previously spent four years as a social studies and math teacher—in 2022 after spending three years as dean of students, assistant principal and activities director in Fargo.
Moorhead High School
Principal: Josh Haag
Assistant Principals: David Ahmed, Spencer Stowers, Chris Triggs, Holly Strand-Rysgaard (MHS Career Academy), Craig Fahrendorf (Moorhead Alternative Learning Center)
Josh Haag embarks on his third year as principal of Moorhead High School, the Moorhead High School Career Academy and the Moorhead Alternative Learning Center. Haag has 22 years of educational experience, including 11 years as a principal and assistant principal in Moorhead. David Ahmed moved into the MHS leadership team in 2021 after working as a math teacher at MHS. He has also served as a high school math teacher in Osseo, St. Cloud and Elk River. Spencer Stowers enters his third year as MHS assistant principal. He has 12 years experience as an educator and coach; the Stowers family moved to Moorhead from Arizona in 2018. Chris Triggs joins the MHS leadership team after spending 11 years as principal at Robert Asp Elementary. Prior to his time in Moorhead, Triggs was a special studies and physical education teacher in Winnipeg, MB, Thompson, ND, and Fargo. He was also an assistant principal, activities director and principal in Fargo.
Holly Strand-Rysgaard returns as assistant principal at the MHS Career Academy. A registered respiratory therapist, Strand-Rysgaard has 11 years of education experience, including as the multi-tiered systems of support instructional coach at Sheyenne High School in West Fargo. Craig Fahrendorf starts his second year as Moorhead Alternative Learning Center assistant principal after 13 years as teacher and athletic director at Horizon Middle School. He also has experience in special education and alternative education.