Jessica R. Burger

Jessica Burger has served as a principal for twelve years, with the past nine years at Hoover Elementary School, where she was awarded Principal of the Year in 2016 and was a finalist in 2015. A teacher at Hoover summarized Burger’s impact by saying, “I have been a teacher in West Branch for twenty-seven years and have never seen staff more united and empowered to make the changes necessary to meet the needs of 21st Century learning.” Under Burger’s leadership Hoover is working its way off the NCLB School in Need of Assistance list due to improved student achievement in both reading and math between 2012-2016. As a result, the school was selected by the Iowa Department of Education to participate in a Phase I Early Literacy and Reading Initiative, collecting universal screening data to focus instruction. The staff began the journey of becoming a Leader in Me school in 2013, with the 7 Habits incorporated naturally into daily routines and academic lessons. As part of this framework, students assume more leadership though service and problem-solving roles. They learn to maintain data notebooks recording both personal and academic goals, monitoring their progress and celebrating their successes. Burger was selected to present at the annual School Administrators of Iowa Conference regarding Hoover Elementary’s early literacy efforts and holds a B.A. from Central College and a B.S.Ed.  from Northwest Missouri State University.