As of January 15, 2025, Randie Ropeke was named the new Fair Grove High School principal for the 2025-2026 school year.
An email from Chalise Shockley, Curriculum & Communications Director, states, “The Fair Grove R-X school district is pleased to announce Randie Roepke as the new principal of Fair Grove High School. Mr. Roepke’s growth mindset and strong commitment to excellence make him an excellent choice to lead FGHS in its mission of putting students first.”
Roepke has been in the education field for 11 years. He started at Fair Grove as a middle school social studies teacher. He also coached football and middle school basketball during his time at Fair Grove. During the 2023-2024 school year, Ropeke took a position at Fordland as an assistant principal for grades 6-12 and as the transportation director.
Roepke made his return to Fair Grove as the Middle School Assistant Principal during the 2024-2025 school year. After Mike Bell, current Fair Grove Superintendent, announced his retirement, Christian Overstreet, current Fair Grove High School Principal was hired as the new superintendent. Overstreet has been the principal for the last three years.
As the job was announced and interest grew around this newly open position, Roepke stated that he had a lot of interest in the job. He explained, “The lead up to the interview revolved around me reflecting on what makes FGHS such a great place and how I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”
As Roepke steps into his new role, there are some differences between being an assistant principal and being the head principal. He said, “I will be more responsible for the vision of the HS (high school), as an assistant I supported Mr. Green’s vision in the MS (middle school). I will also shift to an emphasis on preparing students for life after high school, as well as, deal with issues regarding academic planning, graduation, and more extracurricular activities.”
Marc Green, Middle School Principal, has spent the last year working closely with Roepke. Green expressed, “I have truly enjoyed working with Mr. Roepke this year. In his first year as the middle school assistant principal, he has brought energy and excitement to the building. I appreciate the way he has approached the job each day.”
Green also stated some qualities that Roepke possesses that makes him a good administrator and a good fit for the new high school principal. Green stated, “Mr. Roepke has demonstrated excellent communication and relationship building skills. Mr. Roepke loves Fair Grove and works extremely hard to ensure our students are given every opportunity to be successful.”
Roepke will continue the rest of the current school year as assistant middle school principal and will start in his position as high school principal at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year.
