WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — Washington High School (WHS) has recently seen some significant changes at the administration level.

Brady Streitenberger was hired this summer as the new principal at WHS, Scott Landrum was hired as the assistant principal, and Louis Reid enters his second year as the dean of students. The Record-Herald sat down with these three men to learn a little more about them and to talk about the vision of WHS moving forward.

Streitenberger is a 2006 graduate of Washington High School. His first teaching job came in the McClain school district where he was employed for eight years. While at McClain, he taught middle school language arts and later taught English at McClain High School. He also helped coached numerous sports while at McClain, including varsity basketball, varsity football, varsity baseball, and various junior high sports.

Streitenberger was hired in the spring of 2019 to become the assistant principal at Washington Middle School, working under former principal Eric Wayne. Streitenberger was initially set to become the new principal at WMS before transitioning to the same position at the high school.

“I was honored to be named principal at Washington Middle School,” said Streitenberger. “Growing up, Steve Ross was right up there at the top for me, so to follow in his footsteps and Mr. Wayne’s footsteps was a really cool thing for me to think about. The position at the high school later opened up and after talking with Dr. Bailey, I felt like that was a good move. I’m really excited to be here. It’s been a lot of learning, but the kids have been amazing, the staff has been outstanding, and I’m already feeling a lot of support from parents. It’s been a really positive start to the school year.”

Streitenberger spoke about what family means to him.

“For me, family is huge. It’s a really cool thing to come back here and give back to my community. I have my brother who is the middle school band director, it was cool to work with him for a few years. My wife is a hygienist here in town. My oldest daughter goes to Cherry Hill, my younger one wants to go to Cherry Hills already at 2-years-old. We talked on opening day and said that we want this to feel like a family. We want a family atmosphere here at school. We want it to feel like an extension of what people have at home. We want them to feel cared for and supported, and to know that we have their back and we want to help them be who they want to be. I think that’s an important atmosphere, and these guys are helping to do that work every day. It’s building relationships with staff members. It’s getting to know them and supporting them so that they can do the work.”

According to Streitenberger, there are six teachers at WHS that were there when he was in high school and three of them are former teachers of his, including Mr. Renick, Mr. Stanley, and Mr. Frederick.

“Mr. Frederick was talking to me, and he has been around awhile and seen a lot. He was talking about the really positive feel to the start of this year. It’s a piece for me where I want him to be proud of the work that I am doing. I want these former educators like Eric Wayne and Steve Ross, people that have had an impact on my life, to be proud of the work that we are doing. It really doesn’t feel like work, it feels like we are pouring into kids and helping them through life while doing some school work in the meantime. We are really working to just build those relationships because I think that is what it has to be about.”

Landrum is a Chillicothe native, graduating from Zane Trace High School in 1993. After high school, Landrum attended Muskingum University where he majored in history and also received a master of art in teaching degree. He was employed at Amanda-Clearcreek Local School District from 2007 until the end of the 2022-23 school year.

“I initially worked in sales, and decided that sales just wasn’t for me,” said Landrum. “I enjoyed working with employees, getting them up to speed on things, and problem solving, so education just seemed like a career that would better fit what I wanted to do. I had a great time in the classroom at Amanda-Clearcreek, basically staying there until I felt like I had done everything I could do at that point. I thought I had something more to offer, and here we are.”

Landrum started as a high school intervention specialist at Amanda-Clearcreek High School for several years before transitioning to a seventh grade social studies teacher role. While at Amanda-Clearcreek, Landrum coached boys soccer for multiple seasons and also coached boys soccer at Lancaster High School.

Landrum has three children, and he owns a gym in Chillicothe with his wife, called Crossfit Incognito. He spoke about his experience in his short time so far as an employee in the Washington Court House City School District.

“My experience here has been really positive. Everybody has been really helpful, and I feel like everybody has really opened their arms to the new administration and been willing to work with us. They’ve embraced some change, and we’ve tried to make sure in any way that we can that they feel supported. If they feel supported in and out of the classroom, I think it allows them to do a better job which will get us going where we all want to go.”

Reid graduated from Steubenville High School and later went to Muskingum University. While at Muskingum, he met Washington High School alum Corey Dye, who eventually mentioned Reid’s name to the WCHCS district. Reid began his career as a Blue Lion as the physical education teacher at Belle Aire Intermediate School. He later taught PE at Washington High School along with health at the high school and middle school.

“Last year, in November, Dr. Bailey talked to me about looking into the new dean of students position,” said Reid. “Administration wasn’t something I really ever saw myself going into, but after having a talk with him, the chance to have a larger impact on the student body is what really motivated me to want to look into the position and apply for it. I’m excited that I am here because I feel like I can have a larger impact, a positive impact. We are all on the same page as far as just building the school up and the school district in general, and just helping build these kids up and the families around here. I’ve lived here longer than I lived anywhere else now. This is my home. I’m proud to be a Blue Lion and I want our kids to be proud of where they’re from. I’m still proud that I’m from Steubenville, and I want them to be able to say that they are proud to be from Washington Court House. Community is a big thing to me, and we all want to see our kids and staff just be proud to be a part of this.”

He spoke about the transition from teacher to dean of students.

“It’s been pretty smooth. I’ve had a lot of support. Without the support, I don’t think things would have been as smooth. I deal with discipline and I deal with tardies, but I’ve been able to build some relationships. Kids that may have been in trouble last year, I’ve been able to pull them in this year and talk with them, and some of those kids have changed their attitudes and changed their mindsets. It’s just completely different. I’m also over at the middle school, so I go back and forth throughout the day. Trying to navigate and find the balance throughout the day has probably been the toughest part, but at the end of the day I really enjoy what I am doing.”

WCHCS Superintendent Dr. Tom Bailey shared some words in closing about the high school moving forward.

“I am really pleased with the direction that the high school is going with having all new administrators here at the building. We are blessed with three of the best. The fact that Washington High School is the face of the district, we want to be the very best in our region. Once we obtain that, we’re going to be shooting for the best in the state of Ohio. We are well on our way with this with the right leadership to make this happen, and some great things are happening here. We hope that the community just partners up with us and can help us make great things happen for our students.”