“Better never stops,” is the long-term vision for Badger High School’s Interim Principal, Jenny Straus, who will lead Badger after the departure of Russ Tronsen. Straus, who served for 10 years as associate principal prior to her appointment as principal, promises to “continue to grow our educational community’s capacity to bring real-world career and college opportunities to students.” 

In his announcement of Straus’ appointment, Superintendent Jim Gottinger stated, “we are very confident Ms. Jenny Straus will be up to the challenge to lead Badger High School during the 2019-2020 school year as the Interim Principal. She has been in her current role for ten years and that experience bodes well for her to be successful in her new role as Principal for the 2019-2020 school year. Badger is truly in good hands!”

Straus is a graduate of UW LaCrosse and earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Wisconsin. Her educational philosophy is “Excellence, Equity, and Kindness.  Build relationships that support high quality education for every student.”  This practice has included 13 years teaching and five years as associate principal at Delavan Darien High School. Since coming to Badger, she highlights accomplishments as opportunities she has helped others create including the Community Garden, two student organizations Up & Out and GSA and Stress Management class. In addition she has worked diligently in relationship building with families to support student learning.

“There will always be room to grow, be better, and evolve,” said Straus. She deems the staff and facilities as top notch and pledges to continue to act on district and building goals in moving Badger forward. Straus will build on Bader’s history of community partnerships to bring real-world career and college opportunities to students. “Experiences that put to use the skills and knowledge students gain through their work with our exceptional faculty and they can use to propel them beyond high school,” she said.

This year, Straus aims to continue to grow Badger’s educational community's capacity to ensure that all students succeed at Badger. As students get ready to come back she urges them to enjoy the rest of the summer. “Take time to recharge - get ready for a challenging and rewarding school year,” she said.