Monte Cassady remembers walking the halls of Rockfield Elementary School years ago as a student. Now he will do so again – this time as principal of the school.

“In my mind I have fantastic memories of teachers – this is me coming home,” he said. “I was one of the guys that came back to visit and say ‘thank you.’ ”

Cassady will begin his new position July 1. He will replace Damon Tarbor, who is retiring as principal at the end of this month after nine years.

Cassady, a Warren County native who was the principal of Franklin-Simpson Middle School for 6 1/2 years, has quite a bit of history with both the community and the school. Not only did Cassady attend Rockfield, so did his three younger brothers, his wife and her sister.

“It’s the community I live in, grew up in and now will be head of,” he said. “I told my former boss that this position would be the only one I’d leave Franklin-Simpson for … I knew it would be a position near and dear to my heart.”

Cassady said during the time he was considering the position, he knew leaving Franklin-Simpson Middle was going to be painful, “but the opportunities (in Warren County) were too good to pass up.”

The former Warren Central High School Dragon went on to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Kentucky University. The decision to become an educator was an easy choice for him.

“The (people who impacted) me the most were in education,” he said. “They were vital in me becoming who I am, and I wanted to affect people the way they did for me.”

He began his teaching career in Butler County Schools, teaching special education and physical education before returning to Warren County to teach physical education at Lost River Elementary School. After a year at Lost River, Cassady returned to Butler County Schools – this time as dean of students at Butler County Middle School.

As dean, Cassady handled a lot of administrative duties. He also taught two classes on character education.

While the two positions carry many similarities, being a principal carries more responsibility, he said.

Cassady became principal of Franklin-Simpson Middle School in 2002.

“As a principal, I’m in charge of setting the mission and vision for the school,” he said. “As principal, I set tone for all these things.”

Although Cassady hasn’t formally started his new job, he has been spending time at the elementary school getting reacquainted. He said he is getting a mindset of elementary-level organization and learning the management operations from the time the kids come in the doors to the time they leave – “the small things out there people don’t realize administrators do.

“There is a tremendous cultural climate at Rockfield – making sure the children here are reaching their full potential to the best of their abilities,” he said. “I hope to maintain this great culture and work toward being a top academic school that everyone recognizes.”