Dotson, Vanderpool bring extensive administrative experience to new roles as MHS associate principals
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Marshalltown High School (MHS) students and staff will notice two new faces on the administrative team when they return for classes this month as the district welcomes Darryl Dotson and Vic Vanderpool into associate high school principal roles, replacing Hector Campos and Desiree Hudson.
Dotson, who grew up in Waterloo and graduated from East High School before heading to Upper Iowa University as a marketing major, said his initial dream was to own an automotive repair shop -- he ended up working at a few different dealerships -- and education didn't present itself as a career possibility until he got into coaching at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines. The nine-year Navy Reservist and Army National Guardsman was 37 when he set out on his new path.
"Getting into education was really good because I worked with kids, and I love working with kids," he said.
His education career has taken him from Des Moines Public Schools to Bondurant-Farrar to Newton and now Marshalltown. Dotson served as the principal at Berg Middle School in Newton and both dean of students and assistant principal in Bondurant.
Vanderpool originally hails from Webster City, and he majored in education with a minor in athletic training at the University of Northern Iowa. He planned to become an athletic trainer, but once he started student teaching, he fell in love with it.
"The minute I got in front of kids, I thought 'That's what I want to do the rest of my life,'" he said.
Vanderpool spent many years teaching health and special education before becoming a program coordinator at an alternative school in Fort Dodge, which gave him his first taste of what it might be like to work in administration. He served as high school principal at Gilbert and then spent five years as the executive director for the Gilbert school district.
Dotson said a good friend of his who used to work in the MCSD and now serves as principal at Newton High School, Michael Dale, spoke highly of Marshalltown and compared it favorably to his hometown of Waterloo.
"It just felt like the right fit. People were good in the process. People reached out congratulating me, anything I needed to help, so it just felt like the right fit," Dotson said.
Vanderpool had similar connections to colleagues who had previously worked in Marshalltown and described it as "a wonderful place" celebrating diversity and culture. As they join fellow Associate Principal Melissa Brummel under the leadership of High School Principal Justin Boliver, Dotson will focus on the junior class along with math, business and Career and Technical Education (CTE), and Vanderpool has the sophomore class along with social studies, science and human resources.
"I think we hit the ground running from day one. I think we all share a very similar mindset of doing anything we can to support kids and support staff. We all have our different strengths, and I think what we're really doing is learning how to work with each and then learning what our strengths are," Vanderpool said. "I think we all share that same common belief that we're gonna do everything we can to help kids."
Vanderpool started on July 1, and Dotson worked his first day on July 14. Their new colleagues have been helpful and supportive as they learn the new processes and meet as many people as they can. Both of the new associate principals are excited to serve both their coworkers and students in year one at MHS.
Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.