Russ recently retired from MOC-Floyd Valley in Orange City, IA, after serving the last eleven years as the superintendent of schools. Prior to that, he had served ten years as the high school principal. Russ was recognized as the Iowa Superintendent of the Year in 2021 and the Iowa High School Principal of the Year in 2009. Prior to serving at MOC-Floyd Valley, Russ served as the high school and middle school principal at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn (HMS) in Hartley, IA. In total, he served 37 years in public education (31 as an administrator and six as a teacher and coach. He and his wife also served for fourteen months as family-teachers at Father Flanagan's Boys' Home in Boys Town, NE. As of August 1, 2024, Russ will be serving at Northwestern College, overseeing their graduate program for educational administration, and assisting with the Center for Innovation and Leadership. Before stepping into his role of Superintendent of the MOC-Floyd Valley Community School District, Russ Adams became principal of MOC-Floyd Valley High School in Orange City in August 2003. As principal of his previous school, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School (HMS) in Hartley, Mr. Adams was instrumental in nurturing a mindset of growth and positive change in staff members. Under Mr. Adams' leadership, HMS developed continuous improvement teams to provide a system of accountability and support as an alternative to the traditional evaluation system. Mr. Adams was instrumental in establishing block scheduling with an elongated class period, and helped start a project in which HMS operated the community grocery store to keep it open. He co-developed and team teaches a Leadership and Personal Effectiveness class that has a service learning component. Clearly his efforts with staff had a positive effect on student achievement, as Iowa Test of Education Development (ITED) scores increased since his arrival at HMS.
1993 M.S., Drake University
1985 University of Northern Iowa, B.A.
