Batman had Robin, Jordan had Pippen, today Principal Jerry Anderson has Chris Earls. If you’ve seen Dr. Anderson as of late, chances are her sidekick Chris Earls has been close behind. Earls is the new administrative intern at Monarch and has long been acquainted with Dr. Anderson, and now works at Monarch Wednesday through Friday

“She [Dr Anderson] was a little concerned about me making the drive down here, but I was willing to do it,” said Earls.

Earls  currently resides in Colorado Springs where he commutes from there to Castleview High School in Castle Rock as well as Monarch. Earls said by working as an intern at Monarch, “It would give me an opportunity to try to affect student learning and teaching structure.” He has taught for 10-12 years, teaching US Government and History, and now plans to eventually become an administrator.

Anderson says that every day as an administrator is “unpredictable and brings something different.” She said that although it is challenging, she enjoys that it keeps her busy and she does different things every day. “You have long days and you have a lot of accountability and a lot of people to answer to” said Anderson.

Anderson also noted that all decisions made at the school aren’t just her decision.

Earls said, “To be an effective administrator you have to understand the climate and environment where you’re at.” He thought that fact was one of the biggest challenges in being a successful administrator, and that by learning about the environment you can see how it affects your student and family needs.

“I feel like at Monarch kids take their education seriously,” said Earls.“ They are treated like young adults and are more responsible for their learning.” He said it was “exhilarating” to come into classrooms here and interact with teachers along with students, which he admitted “isn’t always the case with other schools.”

Earls has only been at Monarch since the beginning of the spring semester, although it seems like he already has a good grasp on the climate here at Monarch.