Today's speaker was Rob Reetz, Principal of Mounds View High School. Reetz has served the District’s secondary schools for the past 15 years. Prior to becoming principal of MVHS, Rob served as principal of Edgewood Middle School for three years and was also principal of Chippewa Middle School for four years. Prior to that, he has served as a professional learning specialist, instructional strategies facilitator and a special education teacher at Irondale. Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from University of Minnesota – Duluth, a master’s degree in special education from Augsburg College and an education specialist degree in leadership, policy and administration from University of St. Thomas. He lives in Mendota Heights with his wife Liz and their two daughters. Liz serves as the Assistant Superintendent of the Ramsey County Correctional Facility which led Rob to joke that, between his career and his wife's role with prison oversight, that their two daughters had no choice but to behave! Reetz is passionate in his belief that students need to feel that they are part of a community with shared goals in order to be successful. Teachers spend the first 3 minutes of every class and the first 3 weeks of every semester focusing on building a strong, inclusive, and positive learning environment. His belief system can be summarized with the acronym SPEECH: Share Power, Provide Support, Express Care, Expand Positivity, Challenge Growth and Have Humility.