By STEPHANIE BUNKER
Moapa Valley Progress
The music finally seems to have stopped on the game of musical chairs in local school administration. And who has grabbed the last chair?
Three administrators from the Moapa Valley High School transferred to other schools this year. This opened up new opportunities for the remaining administrators throughout the Moapa Valley area to fill the open positions.
Now that school has begun, those administrative positions are finally settling in. And Moapa resident Chris Jenkins filled the last seat in the shuffle.
Jenkins now fills the position of Assistant Principal for both Grant Bowler Elementary in Logandale and J.L. Bowler in Bunkerville.; splitting his workweek to cover both schools. Jenkins is taking the place of Pledger Solomon who has moved to the Assistant Principal at Moapa Valley High School.
Jenkins’ first day at Grant Bowler was Thursday. He got to come and meet the students of the school.
“My first day was so fun to meet the children of Grant Bowler,” Jenkins said.
He traveled to Bunkerville on Monday to meet the students there. His time at each school is dependent upon the enrollment numbers. But Jenkins expects to spend 3 days at Grant Bowler and 2 days at J.L. Bowler each week.
Jenkins was previously the Assistant Principal at Lamping Elementary School in Henderson. He has been there for the past 2 years. Before that he filled the Assistant Principal role in 4 other elementary schools. Jenkins worked as a teacher before he became an administrator. While still living in Idaho he spent two years teaching special program classes. He then moved to Las Vegas where he worked as a Literacy Specialist. Jenkins has been a 4th and 5th grade teacher as well as a Kindergarten teacher.
“I thought it was important to have multiple experiences to draw from before I worked as an administrator in the district,” said Jenkins.
“I am excited to work with the families out in our area and excited for the things to come,” he said.
Jenkins moved his family to Moapa a little over three years ago from Las Vegas. He has found the transition to the local school to be pleasing.
“We love it in Moapa Valley,” said Jenkins. “When we moved to Nevada 16 years ago we lived in Las Vegas but would come out for picnics in the park on the weekends as well as come out to the Pomegranate Festival and the Fair. Being from a rural community in Idaho we felt at home and anxious to be a part of this community.”
Jenkins is also pleased that his drive time to work has been cut down by an hour.
