Athletic Director, Associate Principal Rick Elertson Leaving Whitnall

In his two years as the Whitnall High School athletic director and associate principal, Rick Elertson has seen the opening of state-of-the-art Falcon Field and helped the school launch seven new clubs, all while Whitnall has remained near the top of the heap academically.

And while he’s quick to point out he’s not necessarily directly responsible for any of those things, he’s happy to have been a part of them.

“There’s a sense of pride at Whitnall,” Elertson said. “There’s a stadium we can be proud of, the community has rallied around athletics and the district’s academics. Things tend to snowball from there in a positive way.

“It’s a big deal for me to feel like I’ve been a part of that renewal.”

To see what happens next, however, Elertson, will have to watch from afar; he is resigning at the end of the school year to become principal at a 500-student high school in New Castle, CO.

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“My wife and I had skied out there several times and honeymooned out there,” Elertson told Patch on Thursday. “We really wanted to move out there. Our kids are at the right age — they’re not in school yet — and we figured if we don’t do it now, we’re never going to.”

Elertson taught in the Milwaukee Public School system for four years before teaching four years of eighth grade United States history at Whitnall Middle School. During that time, he also was an assistant varsity football coach and the head freshman coach.

He then spent two years as an associate principal at Forest Park Middle School in Franklin, where he also handled the school's athletic programs, before becoming the Whitnall High School athletics director and associate principal in 2011.

Coincidentally, the last eighth-grade class Elertson taught is this year’s graduating senior class.

The School Board has to approve Elertson's resignation, which it is expected to do at its May 20 meeting, before the district can hire a replacement, Superintendent Lowell Holtz said. The vacancy has been posted, but Holtz added the district could be looking to fill it differently.

"We’re playing with different ideas, staying within the same budget, including considering making it a 6-12 activities director rather than a high school associate principal and athletics/activities director," Holtz said.

"The number of hours are incredible. It’s a high-expectation job. Being a principal, that person is in the building at 7 a.m. and with high school activities, there are several nights a week when the athletic director is in the building until late at night."

Elertson said he’s happy to hear the district is considering changing the job description.

“I knew going in, with little kids, it was going to be difficult, but it was more difficult than I anticipated,” Elertson said. "Your kids spend more time in day care than they do with you.”