Meet the new principals in Sioux Falls this year (Spoiler: They're familiar faces)

The new academic year begins Thursday for the Sioux Falls School District, and with that comes a bit of leadership change. 

The district is starting the year with four new principals. All of them have years of previous experience, and all of them were hired internally. 

Here's a look at those (somewhat) new faces: 

Discovery Elementary – Dan Fischer

Prior to coming to Sioux Falls in 1999 as a teacher, Fischer taught and coached in Wagner. 

He's been assisting administration for the last four years at Discovery Elementary, he said. 

But when he arrived, he started as a fifth grade teacher at Lowell Elementary, where he served for 12 years. He also taught third grade for two years, fourth grade for a year and a blend of fourth and fifth grade students for a year.

More:How Sioux Falls schools are urging kids to take care of themselves this year

This year as principal, Fischer is looking forward to building positive relationships with students, families and staff, he said. 

"I also look forward to supporting staff and students in any way possible to help students be successful—socially, emotionally and academically," he said. 

He wants to tackle the challenge of providing students with the skills to be successful in constantly changing world, he said. 

Laura Wilder Elementary – Matt Semmler

Semmler has been with the district for four years, and has 16 years of experience in education. 

During his first year in the district, Semmler was an instructional coach for the Bridges Behavior program — which offers highly structured lessons for developing social, self-control and academic skills in a classroom with low student to teacher ratios — at Horace Mann Elementary. He also worked at John F. Kennedy Elementary. 

The last two years, he has been the administrative intern at Hawthorne Elementary. 

"As we approach the school year, I am looking forward to a number of things," he said. "Three items that stand out are getting to know and help our students grow as learners, working with parents to continue building the sense of community at Laura Wilder and collaborating with staff to provide the best possible instruction and environment that we can."

He wants to challenge the way students become more active in their own learning, he said. 

"We want our students to be able to communicate what they are learning, where they are currently, and where they hope to go," he said. "As we work to grow in our capacity as educators, we hope to help our students grow in their confidence and meta-cognition."

Whittier Middle School – Erika Paladino-Hazlett

Paladino-Hazlett has been with the district for a little more than two decades. 

She taught English for 13 years at the Minnehaha County Regional Juvenile Detention Center, served as head volleyball coach at Lincoln High School for the same amount of time and was also the senior coordinator of specialized programs for seven years. 

As the school year starts, she's looking forward to helping both her students and teachers be their best, she said. 

"We have a lot of students, so getting to know each one of them and build relationships will be an exciting challenge," she said. "We have so much diversity, and that is exciting to me. It allows us to create new programs, brainstorm new ideas, and focus on prior strategies that have worked."

Lincoln High School – Laura Raeder

Raeder is starting her 21st year with the Sioux Falls School District. 

Prior to her current role, she served as a teacher, instructional coach, curriculum coordinator and assistant principal, she said. 

She's looking forward to getting to know the staff and students at Lincoln High School, she said. 

"The unique challenge I'll be focusing the most on this year is helping each student find success at Lincoln High School," she said. 

Raeder is also the second principal Lincoln High School has had in two years. 

More:Lincoln High's new principal aims to lead with consistency, classroom focus

Follow Shelly Conlon for more back-to-school coverage this week.