New principal joins team at Mission Elementary School
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ST. IGNATIUS – Tyler Arlint is quacking happy as a duck with the kids as the new principal of Mission Elementary School.
“I’m happy to be working here with a competent and caring staff,” he said.
Arlint joined the team after former principal Dan Durglo accepted a position as vice president of academic affairs at the Salish Kootenai College in July. Durglo worked at Mission for more than two decades as a teacher and then principal. Durglo said he was excited about his new position but it was hard to leave the kids.
Arlint grew up in St. Ignatius where his extended family still lives. After getting a degree in music education, he moved away from home with his three daughters and wife, Wendy Arlint, to find work as an elementary music teacher. The couple eventually added a son to the family.
While he was teaching, he squeezed out time in his schedule to work on a master’s degree in educational leadership from Rocky Mountain College. He said his goal was to one day be a principal.
“I wanted to have an impact on the system,” he said. He met several administrators that inspired him to want to make a difference on the educational system as a whole.
After finishing his master’s degree, he moved to Lambert on the eastern border of Montana to be the superintendent and principal of a small school. It took about 12 hours to get back to St. Ignatius to see his extended family.
“We didn’t get to come home much,” he said.
After almost a decade, Arlint wanted to be closer to his roots. He felt like the goals he set for the school in Lambert were achieved.
“It was time to come home but we didn’t have jobs,” he said. He owned property in St. Ignatius and a television show called “Tiny Homes” gave him an idea. After they decided to move, he looked at his family with a smile and said, “You know where we will be living if we don’t find jobs.”
The four kids didn’t need to worry about the tiny home plan. Wendy found a job as an elementary teacher at the school right away, and soon after, Mission needed a principal.
“I’ve always loved the elementary, working with the kids and the families,” he said. “I’ve always gravitated towards it.” He decorated a wall in his new office with a long black Dracula cape to remind him of a principal he knew when he was a kid. The principal was Dracula every year for Halloween.
“He was authoritative but he cared and I wanted to be that kind of person,” he said.
Arlint hopes to bring three things to the school: a philosophy of service, building relationships, and a determination to have fun.
“I’m doing the thing I most want to do with my life which is to serve the community and the families,” he said of his position.
He started in on the fun on Friday by inviting all the elementary kids to the cafeteria to dance like a duck. He modeled the technique needed to quack and then flap as the kids laughed.
He also told the students that this year the school is working on bumping up attendance a few points to 94 percent with a new “Eight or Less” initiative.
“We are asking them ... to miss less than eight days,” he said.
Attendance is a big factor in a child’s success at school, he said. Although, he did tell the kids it was okay to stay home if they were sick, but they needed to get back to school as soon as possible. He invited students and families to talk with him about his goals and other programs.
