BOULDER — Among the bright and shining faces at Boulder Elementary School this fall is that of the new principal, Dustin Shipman.

He’s the big kid on the playground, the one wearing a tie.

A visitor to the school just might find him high-fiving a whole line of students on their way out the door to gym class, and there will likely be a few hugs mixed in.

Relationship building is important to him — with students, staff, parents and the community.

It’s one of the most important lessons he learned at his most recent job as the K-8 administrator at Intermountain Children’s Home, he said.

He also learned that “with good leadership, you could really change the course of children’s lives with good interventions.”

A successful school takes more than just motivated students, however; it involves the larger community.

To that end, it’s a priority for him to open communication with all who want to walk through the door.

Interviewed fresh on the job in September, Shipman had no changes in mind for the school, other than to make sure it is welcoming to the community.

“I think we have a great staff here,” he added.

He’s learned that the keys to successful teaching and learning are to nurture a collegial environment for staff and to make sure kids are engaged in learning.

The success of any school is typically measured by student outcomes, he said. He’d like to see every student prepared to go on to high school and then vocational school or college.

“Education gives kids choices,” he said. “Without education we have very few choices as an adult of how we live our lives.”

“I bring a wide range of experiences,” he said, “I’ve taught on an Indian reservation in Nevada to embassy kids overseas.”

His teaching experiences include a stint as an English teacher from 2002 to 2004 at Helena High School.

Prior to that, he taught English as a second language at the American Academy in Katowice, Poland, from 1998 to 2001, and then taught at Kiev, Ukraine, from 2001 to 2002.

He also brings the experience of having learned from a master teacher while a student teacher in Helena.

“Geoff Proctor changed my life,” he said. “He showed me all kids can learn. I learned English literature was really about life and there was a whole world outside of Lewis and Clark County, and I’m forever indebted to him.”

And Shipman has fond memories of another teacher, Bill Kemp, who influenced Shipman when he was a fourth-grader in East Helena.

“He took time to have rapport with kids. He was phenomenal with kids,” Shipman said.

A 1995 graduate of Carroll College with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and writing, Shipman earned a master’s degree in international education in 2001 at Framingham State College in Worcester, Mass. And he earned a master’s in educational leadership from Montana State University-Bozeman in 2005.

Shipman is married to Kashia Shipman, an English as a second language teacher at Carroll College and a native of Poland. They have two sons, Milosz, 6, and Juliusz, 15 months.

Reporter Marga Lincoln: marga.lincoln@helenair.com or 447-4074.