Katherine Weaver, Tipp High School Principal

It Feels Like Home

“I believe in what we do. I really do! I believe it’s an opportunity to make a huge impact on kids. Schools are the hub of the community.”

That was Katherine Weaver talking, a third-generation educator. Her grandfather taught high school physics and math, and her mother taught education at a university, where Mrs. Weaver worked for her mom in the Dean’s office. She graduated from Centerville High School and went to the University of Dayton (UD) as a Business Major but soon changed to Education. At UD, she met her husband-to-be, and after graduating (and getting married), she moved on to Ohio State to study music. But she soon decided that education was where she really wanted to be, in the classroom with kids. Mrs. Weaver said, “I believe in what we do in public K-through-12 education. I love all the things about it. I’m happy that this is my path.”  

So, after a brief stint teaching at a parochial school, she spent seven years in the Troy school system, teaching language arts and social studies to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. “I love the creative side of teaching, coming up with fun ideas, doing something different to get them excited,” she said.

She then spent seven years as an administrator in Troy, at both the grade school and high school level, and went back to UD as a Clinical Faculty Member in Teacher Education, teaching first year and senior UD students. With her comprehensive experience in both teaching and administration, I asked Weaver, how do you learn to teach? She replied, “Oh, I don’t know. Observe other teachers and learn by doing.” After teaching at UD, she went to Cedarville University as a Part-Time Curriculum Designer, became an elementary school Principal there, and then was hired this past summer as Tipp City’s High School Principal.

She says, “I love administration because you get to talk to everybody in a day. Sometimes, you have four walls and students in a classroom, but no adult interaction and I really enjoy that. I found out I wanted to continue that”. And she also says, “I like being in a building with kids. They keep you guessing every day, and I love the hustle and bustle of each day. And I like going to the students’ band competitions, musicals, athletic events, and all that stuff. It strengthens my connections with them.”

I asked Mrs. Weaver how she felt about parents and their kids’ schools. “It’s a big deal,” she said. “We want them to be involved. We want them to know what’s happening because I want that for my kids.” (she has an 8th grader and a junior in high school).

I asked her if she had any immediate goals for the Tipp High School. She replied that she wants to get to know the kids and teachers, get to know how things work, and get to know the community better. “It’s a learning opportunity,” she said, “and every principal is different. It’ll take everybody time to get to know me, and me them. But we have a very supportive team of administrators.” She also wants to take Superintendent Moran's goals for the district and integrate them into her goals. “I like the challenge of things coming from the superintendent and the legislature.” She also said she watched Superintendent Moran clean tables at lunch one day. “That doesn’t happen often,” she said, “I hope people know that. He knows the kids’ names, talks to them, and is willing to do anything. Qualities hard to find, sometimes.”

Mrs. Weaver was also a figure skater growing up. She skated on the ice in Kettering in the winter and at Hobart Arena in the summer. Later, she played tennis at Shroeder and other local tennis facilities. She liked tennis because she met and talked to so many people. She confessed, “I probably liked that better than the tennis.”  She also likes baking, particularly because one of her two daughters is gluten-free. “It’s nice to do something immediate”, she says, “because nothing in education is immediate.” Weaver’s husband is an engineer at Wright Patterson AFB, so she claims her two girls get their math and science from him and the rest from her.

In closing, I asked her what she thought of Tipp City and Tipp schools. “People are very welcoming. They have high expectations of school and students and want them to achieve,” she replied. “And I am so happy to be here. Coming back to Miami County, it feels like home. When I dropped my paperwork off at the Board office, someone said, ‘Welcome home!’”