Hello Huskie Families,

My name is Bob Kujala. I am so excited to be the new Jordak Elementary School Principal! It is an incredible honor and privilege to be able to serve our JES families in this role, and I am extremely excited about this new opportunity. I have worked in administration for over ten years. I have served as the elementary principal and assistant special education director with Windham Exempted Village Schools. I then moved on to full special education director. From Windham, I spent some time with the Trumbull County Educational Service Center as the Multiple Disabilities Supervisor. I greatly missed being in the public schools so I was fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to work at Southington Local Schools as the Middle School / High School Principal and Special Education Director.

I am a graduate of LaBrae High School and Hiram College with a degree in business administration with a focus on marketing. I quickly decided that I made a mistake and that I wanted to teach Social Studies. I worked nights to be able to return to Hiram (this was unfortunately before online courses) to complete my teaching requirements.

I was excited to apply for the position and during the interview process it was clear that both the administration and teachers/staff are all committed to school improvement and I am excited to join a team where I will be surrounded by a staff/administration with a passion for education and a great community that has great love and pride in the local school system. In specific, I am excited about the measures that have been put in place over with the curriculum that places an emphasis on phonological skill building which is the foundation of the reading process and also other measures such as MTSS/PBIS program.

I look forward to getting to know my students and their families and building relationships with all the stakeholders I will be working with and for. This includes parents, guardians, police and fire departments, teachers, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria people, etc. There are so many people who work very hard to provide the very best experience that our children have from the time they leave their homes in the morning till the moment they leave the bus or building. It is important that people trust their school and the people who serve their children. I will work to learn about the community and traditions and also work closely with the administration and our local law enforcement to continue to evaluate our safety procedures. With all of that said, I am looking forward to the 2023 school year and getting to know the people of the Cardinal Schools learning community.

Proud to be a Huskie,

Bob Kujala, Jordak Elementary Principal

Cardinal Local Schools