Orient-Macksburg welcomes two administrators

Orient-Macksburg will have two new administrators when school begins Tuesday, Aug. 23.

The district announced in May that Panorama Superintendent Shawn Holloway would be sharing his services with O-M at the start of the 2022-23 school year. About the same time, Dan Grandfield was introduced as principal for all of the district’s grade levels.

Holloway said he’s excited for classes to start and to take on a challenge he set out to do of serving two districts at once. Located primarily in Guthrie County and based in Panora, with portions of the district also in Dallas and Greene Counties, Panorama has a little greater than 700 students kindergarten through 12th grade.

There is a distance of 41 miles from Orient to Panora, but Holloway sees that as a benefit to Orient-Macksburg because when a district shares with a neighbor, there’s always the temptation to feel as though those two schools will one day combine.

“I don’t think there’s any fear of Panorama or Orient-Macksburg going together when there’s two schools between them,” Holloway said. “That way the focus is on Orient-Macksburg and what their board feels is best, being able to lead the charge that way.”

Holloway said that the nice part of this arrangement for him was that he initiated it. Holloway’s official split between his two districts will be 70% Panorama and 30% O-M.

“I’ve looked around the last four or five years. I feel that anytime there’s an opening in the general area it’s my responsibility to make that contact,” Holloway said. “I had never really gotten past that informal stage and this did. I think it can be a win for everybody.”

Strengths Holloway sees at Orient-Macksburg are its people and the pride they have in their district. That is seen in volunteerism and engagement the community has with its school, he said.

“There are a lot of little details we’re cleaning up,” Holloway said of opportunities. “We’re making sure the website looks how we want it to, we’re having the Iowa Association of School Boards review our policies to make sure they’re OK. They’re things that may not seem super visible to the everyday person, but at the end of the day, they’re things we need to do. We’re also building relationships with Nodaway Valley and their administration, making sure we’re doing what’s best for kids as well.”

Grandfield was most recently at Southeast Valley, based in Burnside, but has made a handful of stops in education since 1984 in both Iowa and Nebraska. He has 21 years of experience as a K-12 principal.

Staffing shortages have put challenges on the summertime for many districts, and Orient-Macksburg hasn’t been immune to that. Grandfield said the district has found solutions to the problems and is ready to get the school year started.

“Working with Nodaway Valley is very helpful because they know how this schedule works and I haven’t had experience [with it yet]. With the sharing and [Southwestern Community College] classes, it’s an interesting dynamic,” Grandfield said. “I’ve already been out in the community a lot. My goal is to be visible and bring some consistency. That consistency, being there full-time, is what I can bring to students and staff alike.”