WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Valley High School in West Des Moines will have a change in leadership. The district announced that Valley Principal David Maxwell will step down at the end of this school year.

He will stay in the district in a new role, serving as the district’s first Director of Strategic Outreach and Systems Change, allowing him to work with students, families and community stakeholders to share what all West Des Moines schools have to offer. His new role begins on July 1.  Maxwell sat down with his sister, WHO 13’s Courtney Greene to talk about the legacy he hopes to leave behind.

He’s not the longest serving principal, but David Maxwell is the first Black principal at West Des Moines’ Valley, leading staff and 2,200 students. He’s spent more than 30 years as a high school teacher and administrator. Twenty of those years were spent at Valley High School.

“Being invited into a classroom and being able to teach a class,” Maxwell said. “I’ve always considered myself to be a teacher first, and I love teaching. It’s so, to me, it’s so much fun. Just to be in front of kids and sharing ideas and connecting ideas to what’s happening in the world outside our walls and getting them talking and listening to their ideas.”

Maxwell had been on the job at Valley as an associate principal for one month when his youngest child, daughter Natalie, was born. His wife Kelly asked if he’d be there to see her graduate.

“I remember thinking, she’s a newborn baby. And thinking about preschool, kindergarten, the elementary years, the junior high years. And I thought, ‘That’s 18 years. And I’ve only been on the job for a month and 20 years, that fast,’” Maxwell said.

He has seen his kids, Alanna and Joe, his nieces and thousands of students walk across the stage at graduation.

“My neighbors and their kids, and then our friends in the community and their children and seeing them in the halls every single day and being that intimate, close part of their educational journey,” he said.

And yes, he was there when Natalie, now a sophomore journalism major and cheerleader at Iowa State, graduated.

He said COVID, cell phones and social media have all affected the way kids learn and also impacts their mental health.

“You go to lunch and see a table of kids, and everyone’s on their phones and no one’s talking to each other, you know, often I will stop, and I’ll just say, okay, looks like everyone’s phone is working, your phones, everyone’s working. That’s good,” he said.

He puts in 60-80 hours a week, depending on the week. What will he miss most?

“The best is when you come out of my office and I’m walking down the hallway and you pass, you know, 15 kids and you know every one of them. And you can see their names and, you know, you give them high fives and give them the hugs. That’s, that’s another great part of the job is connecting with kids,” he said.

Maxwell says he hopes a mural represents the legacy he’d like to leave. No matter where you’re from, no matter what language you speak, you feel included and have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Metro News: