WATERLOO - Former East High School student and athlete Brenton Shavers is coming home.

The Bunger Middle School principal is being recommended to the Board of Education as East's new athletic director, Waterloo Community Schools officials announced Thursday. Shavers will replace Mike Allen, who is retiring. His new duties begin July 1,

"Me being a former athlete at East High, being a former student at East High - it just feels natural to come home," Shavers said.

"I've enjoyed being here at Bunger. The staff, students and parents are wonderful to work with. I just felt like it was something I needed to do."

The 39-year-old Waterloo native graduated from East in 1987. "I played football, I wrestled, I did track," he noted.

Shavers holds a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of Northern Iowa and a bachelor's degree in elementary education with a concentration in social studies from Simpson College.

He is looking forward to working with East's staff, students and parents to promote athletics there. He plans on "really trying to get them on board with athletics at East High and increase the current participation within the program."

"We were pleased to learn that Brenton was interested in the East AD position," Superintendent Dewitt Jones said in a prepared statement. "He has done an outstanding job at Bunger, and his successful experience in diverse settings and his commitment will benefit the students, families, and staff of East High."

Shavers has been Bunger's principal for two years and was the school's assistant principal for a year before that.

"It feels weird," said Shavers of leaving the school. He debated the pros and cons "for a while" before making the decision.

He finally accepted the job "knowing that this opportunity to be the AD at East High doesn't come along every day."

He was previously assistant principal at Northwest Middle School in Kansas City, Kan. Prior to that, he was a teacher at Waterloo's Roosevelt Elementary and a St. Paul, Minn., elementary school. He also worked as a treatment director, juvenile care worker, program manager, and case manager/county social work supervisor for human service agencies in Iowa, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.

The district still needs to fill a number of principal positions for next fall due to retirements.

Among principals retiring are Kari Gunderson at Expo High School, Liz Kilgard at Kingsley Elementary School and Bruce Potter at Edison Elementary School.

Contact Andrew Wind

at (319) 291-1507 or

andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.