Street
CROTHERSVILLE — Life has come full circle for Chrystal Street.
After graduating from Crothersville High School in 1989, the native of the small southeastern Jackson County community earned degrees in education.
She spent time as an aide and a teacher before returning to her alma mater to serve a variety of roles, including teacher, curriculum and testing coordinator.
Next, she moved up to principal roles in Medora and Brownstown.
Now, she is preparing to take the next step up — superintendent — at a very familiar place.
During a special meeting Monday night, the Crothersville Community School Corp. board of education unanimously approved hiring Street as the new leader of the corporation. That’s effective July 1.
“I am so, so happy to be here,” the 51-year-old said after being gifted a nameplate for her desk. “I’m super excited. I’m very happy that the board has put a lot of faith in me and they hired me. I’m excited to work with every single one of you. I’m just tickled pink to be back home. Thank you.”
Board President Linda Luedeman said the board is happy Street accepted the position, and the five members were excited and pleased to announce the good news. She was one of eight applicants for the job.
The board will consider approval of Street’s three-year contract during a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the central administration building. A public hearing on the contract was conducted before Monday night’s meeting, and no one spoke in support or opposition of it.
If approved, Street’s annual base salary will be $105,000, and the contract will run through June 30, 2025. It will include a work year of 240 days with annual entitlement of 20 vacation days and 18 general leave days for the first year and 15 days in each succeeding year.
Also, the board would pay all but $1 per contract year toward the cost of a single or family medical insurance program for health, dental and/or vision and the same for the cost of a term life insurance policy.
The full contract can be viewed online at crothersville.k12.in.us.
Street currently is the principal at Brownstown Elementary School, a role she has held since 2016.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and master’s degree in educational leadership from Indiana University Southeast. She later earned her educational specialist degree and director of curriculum and instruction degree from Indiana State University. In 2017, she completed her doctorate degree in educational leadership through ISU.
Her first job in education was serving as an aide with the Scott County School District 2 Title I program from 1994 to 1996, and she then was a teacher at ABC-Stewart Montessori School in Columbus until 1999.
She then spent 14 years with Crothersville Community School Corp. During her tenure, she was a classroom teacher, a testing coordinator, a curriculum director, a class sponsor and a coach of elementary volleyball and high school cheerleading. She also took a one-year sabbatical to go to Five-Star Technology Solutions as a technology integration specialist.
For two school years, Street served as principal of Medora Community School Corp. That was her first administrative title during her career in education.
In 2016, she heard about the Brownstown Elementary School principal job opening, decided to apply and was hired.
Earlier this year, a week after hearing the Crothersville superintendent position was available, she applied.
“It was that position I always thought might be available, but I didn’t think it would be available so soon. It took a little bit of thinking on my part. It shocked me it was available,” Street said. “Knowing that I could come back to my hometown and it has really always been a dream of mine, it was really a no-brainer for me.”
Street went through two interviews before being offered the job.
“I felt that I was genuine in the interview, and to me, it was left up to God, and he was going to put me where he needed me to be the most,” she said.
She is very honored the board chose her to be Crothersville’s next superintendent.
“I am very proud of the education that I received at Crothersville Community Schools and hope that students who graduate from Crothersville will be able to fulfill their dreams just as I did,” she said.
Street’s goals in her new role include meeting with people, including board members, principals, staff members, community members and students, and finding out what they are proudest of and areas that might need some improvement.
Other goals are working with the principals to find innovative ways to increase academic achievement, looking at programming to see what new opportunities can be provided for students and taking the schools to the next level of quality by making it a place in which students are prepared for their next steps in life and athletes are competitive.
“There are already lots of great things happening at Crothersville, and I cannot wait to see how we are going to work together to continue to help students grow,” Street said. “Sharing ideas and exploring the possibilities and opportunities that Crothersville students and teachers have excites me.”
Street file
Name: Chrystal Street
Age: 51
Hometown: Crothersville
Residence: Crothersville
Education: Crothersville High School (1989); Indiana University Southeast (bachelor’s degree in elementary education, 1993; master’s degree in educational leadership, 2007); Indiana State University (educational specialist degree, 2010; director of curriculum and instruction degree, 2011; doctorate degree in educational leadership, 2017)
Occupation: Recently named superintendent of Crothersville Community School Corp.; will start in that position July 1
Family: Husband, Brian Street; son, Corey Street; daughter, Kennedy Street