Ulrich, a native of West Bend, has served as the superintendent of the AHSTW School District in Avoca for the past five years.

He was one of four finalists for the job. He was also a finalist for the Webster City Community School District and Carroll School District superintendent positions.

Ulrich is set to become the 10th superintendent in the district’s history since the early 1900s. He will replace Doug Van Zyl, who has accepted a superintendent position with the St. Joseph School District in St. Joseph, Missouri.

The hire of Ulrich is pending board approval at its next regular meeting March 26.

“I’m honored and humbled to be selected as the superintendent of Fort Dodge Community School District,” Ulrich said in a written statement. “I was very impressed with the students, staff, and community leaders I met during the selection process and their passion to continue to improve teaching and learning for all the kids we serve. I look forward to having my family be a part of this wonderful community.”

Stu Cochrane, FDCSD board president, added, “The board is confident that Dr. Ulrich will bring the passion and commitment to excellence that the staff and community have come to expect. We feel fortunate to have Dr. Ulrich lead us in our ongoing mission where together we rise. We also want to thank the students, staff, and community members who participated in the selection process. Their time and commitment to the process is very much appreciated.”

Ulrich graduated from West Bend-Mallard High School in 2000.

He said the Fort Dodge position was an opportunity to move closer to family and continue his professional development.

“I have been at Avoca for five years now,” Ulrich said Monday afternoon in an interview with The Messenger. “We have done some great things there. We brought two districts together. We brought an expansion project onto our middle school. We improved our teaching and learning instructional framework in our classrooms.”

He added, “After five years my wife and I wanted to get back closer to our hometown and have a chance to professionally develop my career as well. Fort Dodge came open and is only 45 minutes from West Bend. It seemed like a great opportunity to advance my career and go to a school district like Fort Dodge that has lot of potential.”

Ulrich formerly served as the superintendent/principal in Graettinger-Terril; student services coordinator and seventh-grade teacher in Dallas-Center Grimes; and high school social studies teacher in Arizona.

He lived in Fort Dodge for five years while obtaining degrees and certifications from Iowa Central Community College and Buena Vista University — Fort Dodge campus.

During that time he worked at Rabiner Treatment Center.

“I am very familiar to Fort Dodge and the dynamics of the community,” he said. “That was also what drew me because I know, especially in the last 15 years, Fort Dodge has really taken off with the economic growth and the progressive mentality that they have. We really view it as a great place to bring our family and raise them.”

Ulrich and his wife, Amy, have four children.

He recently completed his Ph.D. in educational leadership from Iowa State University.

When asked how he would balance the positive changes taking place within the district, while also trying to improve state test scores, Ulrich said that process starts with relationships.

“One of the things I talked about during the interview process, my plan is not to come to Fort Dodge and make immediate changes in that first six months that I am there,” he said. “The first six months is building relationships with people, connecting with educational stakeholders, and really listening to feedback from all of those different areas on what are the good things we are doing and what are the areas we still need to make some improvements in to create kind of that current reality that Fort Dodge Community School District is in.”

He added, “What my job will be is to support those initiatives that have shown improvement. If there are things we are doing that are not effective, then we have to evaluate those and systematically make changes so we can continue to make our school district better.”

At the heart of Ulrich’s education philosophy is that all students can succeed.

“Specifically, we want to make sure we are providing a great experience for all students — not just students who may like school and not just students where school may come easy for them, but for all populations of students,” he said. “At the core of one of my educational beliefs is all students can learn at high levels. It’s just a matter of us putting a system in place that will allow them to reach their full potential.”

He said his ability to communicate with others and his love for education are two of his greatest qualities.

“My ability to communicate with people and build relationships with businesses and economic development and create partnerships between community and private organizations with the public school, those are all things I have had success with,” he said. “Another characteristic is my passion for teaching and learning and my love for kids.”

He added, “That’s what we do every single day. We have the most important job on the face of the planet, which is to create a system where our kids are going to be able to leave Fort Dodge and be prepared to be the leaders of our society. Be prepared to go to college or enter the workforce and be able to be productive members of our community.”

Ulrich was pleased in his initial visits with members of the community.

“I was very impressed during the interview process with high quality staff and administrators and overwhelmingly supportive business leaders that I met,” he said. “I am very excited to begin those connections and start building those relationships and figure out how we continue to rise together for our kids and move Fort Dodge in the right direction. I believe in Fort Dodge. I lived in Fort Dodge for five years. Fort Dodge is the hub of that region and it will be my job to make sure we keep trending in the right direction.”