Current Wadsworth High School Assistant Principal Keri Hamsher will be transferring to be the new principal of Valley View Elementary. Hamsher is taking over for Christopher Roberts, who is transferring to become principal of Wadsworth Middle School.
Hamsher has been at Wadsworth High School for two years but occupied many different levels of education throughout her 25 years in her career.
She started her career coaching girls’ college basketball in South Carolina right out of college.
She then worked at Muskingum University from 2000 until 2004 where she was the head coach for girls’ basketball and also taught there.
After leaving the University she accepted a job as the athletic director and head volleyball coach at Waynedale High School. She then worked at Wooster High School as the athletic director for five years.
Hamsher spent the longevity of her career at Rittman for 11 years where she was the middle school principal and the assistant high school principal before coming to Wadsworth in 2022.
She decided to go for the Valley View Principal position after conversing with her husband and feeling like God was opening up this position for a reason.
“God has always put me where I’m supposed to be when I’m supposed to be there and I’m excited to see why I’m headed there,” Hamsher said.
She looks forward to building new connections with everyone at Valley View and continuing to grow within the ones gained at Wadsworth High School.
“I love people and I think just the opportunity to meet new people and to make new friendships and build new relationships is probably the most exciting thing about it and the great part is I feel like I have great relationships here that I’ll be able to maintain and continue too,” Hamsher said.
She is excited about this next chapter at Valley View and the new experiences starting next year.
“Mrs. Hamsher is excited and ready for the move to Valley View Elementary School,” Andrew Hill, Wadsworth High School Superintendent wrote in an email. “I’m certain she will be a great addition to the Valley View team.”
Hamsher is excited to further her experience in education and believes that starting positive environments in elementary school is what sets them up for success as they journey through their education.
“The elementary school is where it all starts if students are successful early on then school is a great experience the whole way through and I just think that at the kindergarten level that’s the first experience a kid has with school and the first experience their families have with the school and it’s just a great place to start building a positive future for them”
Currently, Hamsher’s main focus is to build relationships with those at Valley View but hopes to create a plan for high school and elementary students to be more involved with one another.
“I’m hoping that we might be able to bridge some experiences you know having experience here at the high school and then at the elementary, I’m hoping maybe we can set up some fun things that we could have some older kids become mentors to younger kids or come in and do some reading to the classrooms and things like that,” Hamsher said.
She will be starting this new position in August of the 2024-2025 school year.
“Valley View is a wonderful building and I’ve heard so many wonderful things about the staff and the kids there and the families so I’m just really excited to meet them all,” Hamsher said.
