Ryan to lead three Weyauwega-Fremont schools

By James Card

Donald Ryan is the new principal for Weyauwega Elementary School, Fremont Elementary School and the Fremont STEM Academy.

He lives with his family in Neenah and grew up in Shaumburg, Illinois, but he is no stranger to the Weyauwega-Fremont area.

“I’ve been coming to this area forever,” said Ryan. As a youth, his family vacationed here.

Coming up for the white bass run on the Wolf River, they would stay at local resorts.

“We would always launch out of Chico’s [Landing] and still to this day, I launched out of there this year with my daughter,” Ryan said. “I used to go with my dad and my grandpa and now I go with my daughter. I went ice fishing out here on the [Weyauwega] millpond with my daughter who was 5 or 6 at the time.

“We spent a lot of time out here during COVID because there was nothing else to do. We would come out here and fish for pike and then go to White Lake. We would stop at Ma’s Bait and they would tell us where they are biting. It was a time for my daughter and me to connect,” said Ryan.

Previously, he was the principal at Parkside Elementary School in Fond du Lac and was looking for a new challenge when the W-F position opened up.

Ryan graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with a bachelor’s degree in education. From there he worked as a special education teacher for 10 years at Southwest High School in Green Bay and at Ferber Elementary School. He later served as a dean of students at McKinley Elementary School.

He has a master’s degree in educational leadership from Viterbo University.

During this time he coached numerous sports and served as a summer school coordinator for STEM activities.

“That was one of the reasons I applied. I wanted to be part of that [Fremont STEM Academy]. I really love STEM education – providing opportunity for something different. It’s a different way to learn. Doing is learning,” said Ryan.