Daniel Walbaum
GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central High School has a new principal for the coming school year.
Daniel Walbaum will start work this summer, taking over for Jason Cary, who is moving into an assistant superintendent role.
The school board publicly approved Walbaum’s hiring at its May 13 monthly meeting.
He was hired at an annual salary of $137,875 with an initial two-year contract based on Indiana Code.
Walbaum currently serves as the association principal at West Lafayette Junior Senior High School, a building for grades 7-12, where he has worked for the past 30 years as a teacher, coach and administrator.
He taught English and social studies and coached baseball and basketball, and has served as an administrator the past 16 years.
“My building right now has 1,100 students but I try to get to know every student by name and celebrate their success and hopefully attend their activities and events,” he said.
Walbaum said it was a personal goal to advance into a principal position, and he was drawn to Greenfield-Central’s reputation for being “one of the best public school corporations in the state.”
“I knew it was an excellent school corporation, then once I really started doing my research, after I had the chance to meet the people here, it became an even more excellent school corporation,” he said.
Walbaum has lived all his life in West Lafayette but said he’s looking forward to starting a new chapter in Greenfield, where he plans to move this summer.
His new job officially starts July 1, but he may get a head start in late June.
Walbaum said he’s looking forward to getting to know the school and staff better and diving into the new school year.
“It’s also exciting to be able to get in and take the time to get to know people and see some things and maybe find some areas where we can grow,” he said.
Cary, who helped in the hiring process to find his successor, said he was thrilled to have an experienced educator and administrator like Walbaum take his place.
“I couldn’t be happier. He seems like just such a great fit,” said Cary. “He just has the total package. He related well to our kids and to our staff members, he has great experience and a wonderful personality. He seems like he was made to be here, so we’re just very happy.”
