After 40 years in education, Wick announces retirement

Chris Peterson, Hungry Horse News, Columbia Falls, Mont.
·2 min read

Feb. 1—After a distinguished 40-year career in education, School District 6 superintendent Dave Wick will retire at the end of June.

The School District 6 Board Monday night accepted his retirement with regret.

They will now begin the process of hiring a new superintendent, which should take about two months and will include public meetings with prospective candidates.

The first steps include advertising the position and finding a professional to help screen candidates. The district typically has looked for someone with at least five years of superintendent experience. The board would also prefer a Montana candidate.

Wick steered the district through some trying times since he was hired as superintendent in 2019, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the construction and completion of the Glacier Gateway Elementary School and the remodel and addition to Ruder Elementary.

Prior to becoming superintendent he was junior high principal for 23 years.

He was also president of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, an advocacy group with about 16,000 members across the United States. He took a 6-month sabbatical to tour the country and other schools as part of that organization.

Wick received the 2022 G.V. Erickson Award from School Administrators of Montana. The G.V.

Erickson Award is given to a member of SAM who has made the greatest contribution to the betterment of education in Montana. It is the most prestigious award a school administrator in Montana can receive, the organization noted.

Wick was nominated for this award by Jon Konen, principal at Columbia Falls High School.

Wick began his career as an English teacher at Alma Public School in Wisconsin; continued his teaching and coaching career in Hope, North Dakota, and Brainerd, Minnesota, before becoming assistant principal at Central School in Whitefish in 1994.

He was named the Columbia Falls Junior High principal in 1997.

Wick earned a bachelor of arts in English education with a minor in business administration from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, in 1980. He completed his master's degree in education leadership from the University of Montana in 1993 and underwent his doctoral coursework in educational leadership and supervision in 1994. He has also taken graduate coursework at Carleton College, Hamline University, and St. Cloud State University.