Greenfield Hires New High School Principal

The Greenfield School District introduced its new high school principal when the School Board approved the hiring of Paul Thusius on Monday.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” Thusius said with his wife, Nicole, and son, Spencer, with him. “Obviously this is a huge commitment, a huge family decision and we’re all in this together.”

Thusius comes to Greenfield after serving the past three years as assistant principal at Wauwatosa West High School. He also has 20 years of teaching experience as well as 20 years of military experience.

“The direction this district is headed is so near and dear to my heart and the values that I hold close,” Thusius said. “I think this is a perfect fit. I’m excited about the fact that this district is constantly looking to increase rigor in the classroom for all of your students.

“I’m excited about the leadership team here. I can see that their heart is in the same place and that they’re already moving this in the right direction. I anticipate just a great fit…and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Dr. John Thomsen, Director of Secondary Education, said Thusius was selected from a field of 47 applicants after the position was posted in late January.

Said Superintendent Conrad Farner, “It’s always comforting and rewarding when you do make some calls and start talking to people about a person and their first reaction is always ‘ugh, we don’t want to lose him.’ That has been universally what we’ve been hearing from everybody we’ve talking to in Wauwatosa and that’s a credit to Paul and a credit to our process that we know we’ve got another good one coming on board.”

Thusius will replace Darin Fahrney, who accepted a position with the Singapore American School in the Republic of Singapore. Fahrney will finish out the school year at GHS.

The School Board also approved the hiring of Wendy Bunker as a computer sciences teacher for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students.

Bunker has more than 12 years of teaching experience and also currently serves as executive assistant to the superintendent.

Other highlights from the meeting were:

• The approval of 16 students seeking a Youth Operations request, which would allow them to take classes either not offered by the high school or exceeding the high school’s limits. Fifteen of those classes are offered at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the other at Marquette University.

• Several adjustments to the current middle school and high school summer-school schedule, including changing the timeline from five weeks to six for those taking four-credit courses at the high-school level.

• The approval of three separate trips that will take Junior ROTC members out of state for competitions in April.

In addition, numerous concerned citizens offered their thoughts and advice on the proposed cuts that will come with Gov. Scott Walker's budget proposal. Farner said due to all the uncertainty, there is no action to be taken at the moment.

“Things are a little up in the air with the restraining order holding off the budget proposal,” Farner said. “So there’s not a whole lot to say other than when we find out something we’ll make sure the board is apprised.”