Jenny Risner named the Next Superintendent of Ames Community Schools

The Ames Community School Board is excited to announce Jenny Risner as the next Superintendent of the Ames Community School District. Jenny stood out of an applicant pool of 69 individuals from across the country after participating in two rounds of interviews with the school board and a variety of representative groups that included teachers, community leaders, former board members, parents, and District staff.

Ms. Risner currently serves as the Superintendent of Ocean Beach School District in Long Beach, Washington where she has been the superintendent for the past four years. Ms. Risner has been an educator for over 20 years and has served as a director of student services, director of special education, secondary principal, assistant principal, instructional coach, and elementary and middle school teacher. She received her superintendent credentials in 2013 from Washington State University, where she also received her MA in Education Administration in 2001.

Ms. Risner comes from a family of educators and values the impact strong educators have in the lives of children. She likes to be in the schools, classrooms, and community, and spends much of her free time attending school and community events and volunteering for service organizations. Several of her awards include Agricultural Principal of the Year for her support around career and technical education, Community Assist Builder award for her work with community organizations, and has participated in a national documentary around the impacts of immigration arrests on community and school systems.

The board approved the contract on April 20 with her contract beginning July 1, 2018. As a District, we are excited to begin working with Jenny this summer and look forward to her leadership as the next Superintendent of the Ames Community School District.