Listen and learn.

That’s the vow of the two freshly minted leaders of South Whidbey High School and Langley Middle School.

John Patton, currently the athletic director and assistant principal at SWHS, will be promoted to principal of the school in July. And Eric Nerison, the career and technical education director for the high school, will take the helm of LMS, also in July.

Both Patton and Nerison said they weren’t coming into their new posts with an agenda full of changes. Instead, they are eager to absorb the input of staff, students and parents as they work toward improving student achievement.

The principal’s post isn’t entirely new to Nerison, who was principal of South Whidbey Intermediate School for three years. He was also assistant principal at SWHS for four years, part of the 11 years he has worked for the South Whidbey School District as a teacher, teacher-director and administrator.

“I am a collaborative leader,” Nerison said. “I have a style that brings people together to work through challenges and look for opportunities.”

“It’s a great opportunity to get to know another part of the organization,” he said of his new role at LMS. “More importantly, I’m just really excited to be in the principalship and be a part of the leadership team to move the district forward in the future.”

Nerison, who has a master’s degree from Western Oregon University and taught special education at the elementary and high school levels in North Kitsap and South Whidbey, has a career in education that spans 15 years.

He said he hasn’t set specific goals as the new leader of LMS.

“I think part of what I want to do is to get to know the staff and really take some time to thoughtfully form goals,” Nerison said.

“Every school is unique and has its own set of strengths, and I want to be able to work with staff to build on their strengths to make LMS the best school it can be,” he explained. “I think one of the strengths that LMS has is that it’s a very positive culture; teachers care about kids, and staff are very involved in the program there and have a commitment to the school community.”

The aim is clear, however: to improve student achievement and to build upon the strong foundation that’s been created by the staff.

“I’ll know that things are successful when students achieve at higher levels,” he said. “That’s really what we’re all after.”

Patton, who is now in the 16th year of his education career, has a master’s degree from Western Washington University. Like Nerison, he also has a principal’s certification and has spent 11 years with the South Whidbey School District.

Patton said he was honored to be chosen as the new principal at SWHS.

“This school is my life. I bleed blue and white,” he said.

“It’s a great opportunity, and I want to help make the school even better. I think we are a good school, and we can be a great school,” Patton said.

The new hires were necessary due to the recent resignation of Rod Merrell, the current principal of SWHS and LMS. Merrell is leaving South Whidbey at the end of June to become principal at Mount Vernon High School.

Superintendent Fred McCarthy, who is retiring at the end of June, said his replacement will be well-served by the new personnel changes approved last week by the school board, which includes moving Scott Mauk to the assistant principal post at SWHS, where he will also be athletic director, and making David Pfeiffer a full-time employee as alternative programs director.

“They bring a wide variety of talents, skills and backgrounds to their work, and a real commitment to this community,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said the changes mean the next superintendent can come in with “a high degree of confidence” that the administrative team in place will work well together, and are well-versed and committed to the district-wide improvements made in recent years.

“Our goal was to help provide a foundation of success for the incoming superintendent,” he said.

“What we’re trying to do here is provide a leadership structure that will enable the transition, as opposed to leaving those decisions up in the air until the new superintendent was hired,” McCarthy said.

That’s important, McCarthy said, because it was “highly possible” that the finalists for the position of superintendent will come from outside the school district.

“And it’s challenging when you come into a new school district to understand the people and the culture and the history. And it’s much better if you can come in where structures are stabilized, and people are in place, and you can learn the system and then assess whether that system that’s in place needs to be changed — without inheriting a dysfunctional system,” he said.

Another advantage, McCarthy noted, was that the in-house promotions will give those who are taking on different roles the chance to prepare and transition into their new jobs.

Though the school board has approved the new hires, consideration of the actual employee contracts will follow within a month or so, McCarthy said. Such agreements for administrators typically run for one year.