Clear Creek Amana High principal named best in Iowa

The principal of Clear Creek Amana High School is the 2019 Iowa Secondary Principal of the Year, education leadership organization School Administrators of Iowa announced Thursday.

Principal Mark Moody, 52, attributed his recognition to the students and staff of the high school in Tiffin, where he's been principal since 2010.

'Our students are great, but just as important are our staff here who come here on a daily basis and think about what they can do for kids,” he said. 'Being surrounded with people like that, in a school especially, is a pretty great place to be.”

Moody joined the staff at Clear Creek Amana High in 2005 as a teacher and coach for football and wrestling before becoming the school's assistant principal and eventually principal. He previously was a special-education teacher and coach at West High in Iowa City, and has taught at Bettendorf Middle School and Lincoln High School in Des Moines.

In addition to support from his staff, Moody said his work - and its sometimes long hours - wouldn't be possible without the understanding of his wife, City High teacher Beth Fettweis, and their three young children, ages 8, 10 and 11.

Originally of Cedar Falls, Moody has a master's degree in special education and a bachelor's degree in English education from St. Ambrose University in Davenport, and an administrative endorsement from Drake University.

He was nominated and selected by his peers and will be recognized at a May governor's awards ceremony, according to a School Administrators of Iowa news release.

l Comments: (319) 398-8330; molly.duffy@thegazette.com