Havre High principal moving to St. Jude's

The Havre High School principal is leaving his job to move back to his starting point at St. Jude Thaddeus School.

Second-year Havre High Principal Mike Haugen said Wednesday he has accepted, effective for the 2018-19 academic year, the job as the principal of Havre's Catholic school, the first school at which he taught after receiving his degree.

"I was hired in 1979, right out of college," Haugen said, adding he taught history, math and some physical education classes in the Havre Central building. "It was a great five years. It kind of established a foundation for me."

Havre Public Schools Superintendent Andy Carlson said the position has been posted and the district will immediately begin the search for Haugen's replacement.

He said he had expected Haugen to be back at the high school for years to come.

"I appreciate what Mike has done for us. I think he has done a nice job at Havre High," Carlson said. " ... My plan was to have Mike back at Havre High."

Haugen said making the decision to take the St. Jude's job was difficult.

"I prayed on it and talked to a lot of people on it," he said.

In the end, he said, the opportunity to be involved in educating children on the academic, emotional and spiritual level again helped him make the decision.

"It was a real difficult decision. It took quite a while," he said, adding that he has really enjoyed working with the teachers, staff and students at Havre High School and that the central administration also has been "fantastic to work with."

He said he hasn't worked in the world of elementary education since his first time at St. Jude Thaddeus School, but he is looking forward to the job.

He added that 33 of his 39 years in education have been in Catholic schools.

Haugen said that after he spent five years at St. Jude's he took a job as a teacher and head coach in Scoby, then spent 28 years at the Catholic high school Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane before returning back to north-central Montana to take over the helm at Havre High School.

He said he expects his experience at Gonzaga to help him in his work as principal at St. Jude's, and he will work to ensure the school provides a meaningful, legitimate experience for the students.

"We have a very good public school district here," Haugen said. "There needs to be something distinct about your education in a Catholic school. It needs to be special, I guess, is the best way to put it."

"I feel that I have something that is very, very valuable in my hands, and I need to be careful with it," he added.