The Northwest R-I School District Board of Education has approved Robert DePung as the new assistant principal at Valley Middle School beginning in the 2023-24 school year. He replaces Spencer Storey, who was recently named Valley Middle School principal.
DePung comes to Northwest from the Hancock Place School District, where he has been since August 2004 when he became a permanent substitute teacher at Hancock Place Middle School. From August 2005 through May 2022, he was a seventh and eighth grade science teacher. During this time, he also held leadership roles at the school, such as Professional Learning Communities Leadership Chair from 2008 to 2017, Science Department Chair from 2008 to 2022, and Project Lead The Way Site Coordinator from 2015-2016. He is currently the administrative intern at Hancock Place Middle School, a role he has held since August 2022.
DePung has been recognized several times for his outstanding work. He was the 2015 Hancock Place Middle School and District Teacher of the Year. In the same year, he won the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2014 and 2022, he was a nominee for the St. Louis Science Center Loeb Prize. He has also presented at several national conferences.
DePung holds an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Leadership for grades K-12 from Northwest Missouri State University, a Master of Arts in Classroom Teaching from Missouri Baptist University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Knox College.
DePung officially begins his role at Northwest on July 1, 2023.
