Tabitha Acree took over at St. Edmond Catholic School on Aug. 1. For the past six years, she had been principal at Riverside Early Learning Center for the Fort Dodge Community School District, and for the 10 years prior to that, Acree was the middle school and high school counselor at St. Edmond.

It was the Holy Spirit that led Acree back to the Catholic school, she said.

“I really do think that,” she said. “I wasn’t out looking. I love working in the public school, the teachers and the kids… I’d heard there was an opening (at St. Edmond) and some friends had suggested that I consider it and through prayer, it led me back here.It’s like coming back home.”

Acree considers her faith to be very important to her and she enjoys being able to teach students and talk about God as well.

Another benefit Acree sees in the private school is that she gets to work with students from their very first day of preschool all the way until their high school graduation. At Riverside, she only got to spend at most two years with each student.

“It was great to be able to go in and set that foundation with kids … it’s the first experience with school for many of them,” Acree said. “And it’s a great opportunity to set that foundation and to then keep that relationship going from year to year.”

Acree said she’s received a very warm welcome from parents, staff and the parish since she started a few weeks ago. Many of the teachers are ones she worked with when she was previously at St. Edmond.

Acree is looking forward to the start of the new school year on Monday, welcoming over 600 students to the building and building relationships with their families.

“Our education is really a partnership with families,” she said.

The administrative staff and teachers have set some “really great” goals for the school year, Acree added.

This school year, Acree wants to kick off the school’s podcasts to better share the St. Edmond message and keep communication with the community open.

“A successful school year looks like to me that we will have graduated our senior class, we have more students with a stronger relationship with Christ,” she said.

She also wants to see parents more involved in the school, whether they’re reading to students in the school or assisting with the booster clubs.

“We’re just super excited for the first day of school,” Acree said.