Meet the Principal

Dr. Derek Leininger

I have worked my entire career with FWCS, and I love being the principal here at Arlington. After completing my student teaching with FWCS, I began my career as a classroom teacher for 8 years, then moved on to an assistant principal role for 7 years, and this is my 4th year as a principal. I received my bachelor’s degree from IU (2007), master’s degree from Ball State University (2013) and doctoral degree from Indiana State University (2019). I taught reading, social studies and business education. As an administrator, I have worked at all three levels (elementary, middle and high school). I am also an adjunct professor within the School of Education at the University of Saint Francis.

I enjoy building meaningful and productive relationships with our entire school community. I love it when I can serve and help others, students and adults alike. As a principal, I get to support teachers to help them do their job most effectively, and I get to support student learning to see them grow and thrive. I also have the opportunity to work alongside our families to be a supportive member of their team. As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” I enjoy being part of that village here at Arlington.

The PEOPLE are what makes this building unique and amazing. We have such an amazing staff that are dedicated fully to our students. We have awesome family support and parents who want their children to succeed. We also have great kids. I really enjoy getting to interact with our students each day.

Most importantly, we want our students to learn and grow each day with us. We want students to acquire a lifelong love of learning so that they will continue to grow after they leave our school. Primarily, we want to support our students in their literacy skills. Being a strong reader is essential to learning every other content area, so we dedicate a lot of time and energy to helping our kids improve in their reading skills.

In my free time, I play ice hockey in an adult recreational league and I am an active runner, participating in several races each year.

I can recite all 50 states in alphabetic order (thanks to my 5th grade teacher). I'm happily married and I have two daughters. I recently turned 40 years old and on my birthday I accomplished my 2024 New Year’s Resolution of running a mile on the track under 6 minutes.