On Thursday, Crookston High School Principal Eric Bubna informed the staff that he was resigning at the end of the school year to take the High School Principal position at Albany Area Schools.
Bubna said he and his wife Kaia, a former kindergarten teacher at Washington, made the difficult decision to be closer to family. “I called a staff meeting this morning and let the school board know that with a wide range of emotions I submitted my resignation today effective the end of the school year,” said Bubna. “I accepted a position at Albany Area High School to be their principal. I think most people know both my brothers and my parents are down in the cities along with all of my nieces and nephews. My wife’s family is kind of all over the country right now except her parents are up here, but they drive pretty easily. We just wanted to be a little closer to family. Our kids are getting to that age we had to decide if we wanted to put down roots here for 10 years or be closer to family. We came to the really difficult decision that we did want to be closer to family. I put my name in the hat for that Albany position and was fortunate to come out on top.”
Bubna said he wishes he could take Crookston with him. “As I said to the staff today, I’m excited, I’m sad,” said Bubna. “I must’ve said 10 times through this process to my wife I wish I could just pick up this school, pick up this staff, take them down and be 90 minutes from the cities. It’s going to be tough leaving. It’s a wide range of emotions. It’s been a tough day. It’s been a good day, all of those things. I’ve been here for seven years and so blessed to work with such a great staff, for the community support. And it’s been a fun ride.”
Bubna said there are many memories he and his wife will hold forever. “You learn a lot in your first high school principalship,” said Bubna. “But, obviously, walking away with fond memories of the students, staff, and community. Been fortunate, my kids of done extremely well. Been blessed to have fantastic teachers down at Highland and Washington when they were even younger. Now, this year, Ethan is up here (at the high school). We’ve been very blessed by this community and are very grateful for our time year. My wife taught for five years or four years, whatever it was in kindergarten. Absolutely loved that team. She’ll cherish that forever. So, it’s with a lot of gratitude that we start to wrap this up here in the next few months and start a new adventure. But there will always be a little bit of us that’s a Pirate forever.”
Albany Area Schools are similar in size to Crookston, which Bubna said was important when they decided to move closer to family. “I’m going to tell their AD that we have to schedule a few Crookston-Albany basketball, football games, or something,” said Bubna. “The size of the school piece was a big deal. Again, we said so many times that we just want to pick up Crookston and move it. Love the size of the school. Love the size of the system. It’s what I like working in. I think it’s what I want for my kids. When that Albany job came open I looked at it and then going down to interview and meet people, I said it’s got a Crookston feel to it. There’s a lot of community pride. People want to see the school do well and they take a lot of pride in what’s going on there. Again, it’s a similar size and that kind of stuff. I felt right and we decided to make the jump.”
Bubna thanked the students, staff, and community. “A huge thank you to the students,” said Bubna. “A huge thank you to the staff mostly. It’s just been an awesome staff to work with. And again, thanks to the community. They’ve been supportive of my seven years here. They’ve been great to my family. It’s really been a pleasure and we’re going to cherish our memories here.”
Bubna also submitted a message on his resignation below –
It is with a wide range of emotions that I submitted my letter of resignation effective at the conclusion of this school year. Serving as High School Principal for the past 7 years has been a privilege. The relationships I have built with the staff and students have been life-changing and will be greatly missed. I am so proud to have worked with such a wonderful group of teachers at Crookston High School.
Kaia and I will be forever grateful for the time we spent at Crookston Public Schools and in this community. Each of our children was blessed to have fantastic teachers and Kaia’s time teaching at Washington will be something she cherishes forever. The difficult decision to leave Crookston was driven by our desire to be closer to family in the Twin Cities area. I have accepted the High School Principal position at Albany Area Schools.
While we are about to close this chapter of our lives and start a new undertaking, being a Pirate is something that will never fully fade. We are proud to have served and been a part of this community. Go, Pirates!
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