Mississippi man named
new Nixa superintendent
School Board says Loden is ‘best
superintendent to guide Nixa Public
Schools over the next decade.’
Amelia Wigton
In October, there was a family from Mississippi who attended the Nixa-Ozark football
game, better known as the Backyard Brawl. That family — a dad, mom and two boys — were
impressed by the community involvement and energy of the game. And at halftime the boys,
ages 16 and 9, were changing their shirts to support one of the teams — the Nixa Eagles.
Now, that family is ready to call Nixa home. Out of the 24 applicants — internal and
external — considered to fi ll retiring Nixa Superintendent Stephen Kleinsmith’s shoes
beginning July 1, 2018, a Mississippi superintendent came out on top.
“You talk about family-oriented, the entire town attended the game,” H.
Gearl Loden said. “We spent the weekend, went to a fall festival, Piccolos
and we asked people (about the area). We said we were thinking
about relocating and we’ve got two sons. They always would say
‘Nixa.’ We would ask why and they could give you personal examples.
After that, we were kind of all in. I decided I’d like to apply
and have the opportunity to work in Nixa and be a part of the
community.”
During a press conference Dec. 14, the Nixa School Board
announced that Loden, current superintendent at Tupelo Public
School District in Tupelo, Mississippi, is the “best superintendent to
guide Nixa Public Schools over the next decade.”
“Dr. Loden comes from a school district larger than Nixa and
has faced some of the challenges that our school and state may
encounter in the future,” School Board President Scott McDonald
said. “Mississippi has had charter schools since 2013. So
he’s been competing with charter schools and knows what you
need to do in our state.”
School Board member Josh Roberts said Nixa is growing
and is on the cusp of becoming Class 6 in football. Loden,
Roberts said, has already felt those growing pains in Tupelo,
and has a similar mindset as the current board on how to
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