Brett Shelby, the new principal at Jack Elementary School, is pictured in his office on Thursday July 26, 2018. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

When students return to school this fall at Jack Elementary School, they’ll be welcomed by a new principal.

Former principal Patti Henderson even left a special present in her old office to help welcome him to the school. The first thing Brett Shelby saw when he walked into the office was a mirror covered with photos of every teacher in the school and their names on paper bow ties, as a nod to Shelby’s affinity for the neck wear.

“I’m really excited,” Shelby said. “The chance to grow and learn has really given me fire again.”

Shelby is making the transition to Jack from just down the street as an assistant principal at Three Lakes Middle School. He’s excited to work with the little brothers and sisters of the middle school students he has had the privilege of getting to know.

“Elementary is really my jam,” he said. “At this age, they’re uninfluenced and you can make a big impact, help them understand good choices and influence how they’re going to react when they’re older.”

Shelby, who previously taught and worked as an assistant principal in Frisco and Coppell, is married to Caldwell first-grade teacher Ardra.

“We grew up 10 minutes from each other, but had never met,” he said.

Their parents dropped some hints and they connected.

“We met up and started talking about education, and that was it,” Shelby said.

The two started dating while he was still in Frisco and she taught at Caldwell.

Shelby came down for Caldwell’s End of Year Showcase and proposed that night. The couple moved to Frisco after marrying, but he said they both knew Tyler was where they wanted to start their family.

To that end, they attended a Tyler ISD job fair two years ago and Ardra found a new classroom at Caldwell and the district offered Shelby the job at Three Lakes.

“It’s so nice to live, work and serve in the same community you expect to raise your kids in,” he said.

They now have a three-year-old daughter, Reagan.

“We want our daughter to be a Caldwell STAR, but I told them in my interview that my goal three years from now is I want that to be a tough conversation (between Jack and Caldwell) when the time comes,” Shelby said.

Shelby said he’s most excited about taking the reins of Jack’s Leader In Me program. The campus is a “lighthouse” school, which means other member campuses across the nation can look to Jack for guidance.

“Jack is a very successful school. Leader In Me is a very successful program and everyone here is very fond of it,” he said. “I want to spend time with staff to reflect on where it started, where it is now and where we want it to go. Five years from now, what is Jack going to look like?”

Shelby said he wants to use his presence on campus to empower his teachers and staff and connect with students.

“Everybody on this campus is just as important as the principal,” he said. “What you model is what you’ll see.”

Shelby said originally he wanted to be a baseball coach, but no student teaching positions were available. He was unsure when he found out he would be placed in a second-grade classroom, but after the first day he knew that was where he was meant to be.

“That first day, the interactions and the way they reacted to my personality (sealed the deal),” he said.

Shelby believes that at the end of the day, what makes Jack Elementary successful is not the building, it’s the family of students and teachers who call it home.

“Your learning is not limited to the building you’re in,” he said.

Twitter: @TMT_Cory