Meet the Principal
Reach for the stars
No high school has ever graduated 100 percent of its students on time, in four consecutive years.
Principal Rhonda Klomparens says she and her energetic staff will do “whatever it takes” for Holland High School to achieve that lofty goal.
“We’re physicians of learning and our aim is healthy learners,” said Klomparens, who was HHS assistant principal in 2009-2010. “If students aren’t thriving, we need to dive in and treat the ailment.”
21st Century learners
Holland High’s instructional delivery is on the cusp of changing to meet the times, Klomparens said.
Most of the successful 2010 bond campaign will be invested to restructure and re-tool the high school to facilitate the kind of learning that builds skills prized in today’s global economy: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication.
To help students succeed despite more rigorous state requirements, Klomparens and staff are holding “Saturday School” so students can get extra help. Students can work after school until 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays to recover failed credits via computer modules.
Africa to Holland
Klomparens was reluctant to accept the high school principal post, despite previous successful leadership experiences at Jefferson and Holland Heights.
“I didn’t much like high school as a student,” said Klomparens, who grew up in Grand Rapids. “I wasn’t engaged. I thought it was boring. I didn’t want to live it again.”
Superintendent Brian Davis enticed her by affirming that Holland is intent on discovering a better way to do high school, she said.
As a Hope College education major, Klomparens did her student teaching at Holland’s Lakeview School under veteran educator Millie Ten Brink. After graduation, she journeyed to Zambia to join Ten Brink’s sister, Arlene Schuiteman, on the mission field. Klomparens found the experience so satisfying that she decided to remain in Africa.
Ten Brink herself accepted a probationary teaching contract with Holland Public Schools on behalf of Klomparens. So, Klomparens returned, teaching many years at Jefferson and Lakeview Schools. She also worked at Longfellow and Holland Heights as a literacy coach prior to becoming a principal. She has spent several summers in Zambia.
She completed her undergraduate degree at Hope College in 1986, earned her master's degree in early childhood education from Western Michigan Univsersity in 1997 and obtained an educational specialist degree from Michigan State in 2005.
Klomparens’ husband, Wayne, is a retired elementary school teacher. They have two daughters, one is a junior at Holland High and the other is a freshman at Hope College. Klomparens is passionate about reading. She loves to read anything from Marzano (educational author) to Lucado to totally brainless fiction.
Contact Klomparens by phoning 494-2200, or email her by clicking here.
