BROOKINGS, S.D. — Brookings High School has a new principal. The school recently announced current assistant principal Justin Stanley will assume the role.

Starting July 1st, Brookings High School will be under new leadership.

“I’m feeling very blessed, very fortunate for the opportunity that Brookings School District has given me. As far as my previous role in the assistant principal role, I feel ready to take this step,” Stanley said.

It did not take long for administration to make a decision.

“It’s not necessarily a quick decision when Justin has spent the last three years in the school district. I have worked with Justin the last year, and so that’s better than any interview, as you can imagine. And so the district knew that he was the person that we felt was going to move the school forward in the direction we wanted to,” Brookings superintendent Summer Schultz said.

A native of Brookings, Stanley spent about two decades away from his hometown.

“It was always a goal of mine to get back to Brookings and being able to be the head principal is truly just an outstanding feeling,” Stanley said.

Stanley was the assistant principal the past three years. Now, he hopes he can have an even bigger impact on the city of Brookings.

“It’s just embracing the opportunities that that come your way. Brookings High School has done a lot of great work, and I want to continue to build off of that great work. We have great staff, we have great students, we have great families,” Stanley said.

As Stanley finishes his time as assistant principal, he plans to build stronger relationships with the community and his office staff.