Darren Kesselus

• 12 years As Principal / C & I Director of the Prairie Lea ISD -Recognized or Academically Acceptable throughout tenure.
• Awarded Facility-wide Employee of the Month - Giddings State School at six month mark of employment.
• Former Bastrop Walmart Teacher of the Year

• Lions Club
• TEPSA
• ASCD

• Superintendent
• Principal
• T-TESS
• CDL-PS
• License to Carry
• Endorsements: GT, ESL, & Special Ed.
• Elementary Self-Contained
• English, Reading, Speech, & Health
• Journalism, P.E., & Driver Ed
• First Aid / CPR
• Safe Guarding God's Children
• Capturing Kid's Hearts
• Baldridge in Education (Continuous Improvement Levels I & II)

April 26, 2026

I am seeking a rural superintendency, a place to settle down and stay for a good while now my sons are grown.

• As a leader, I keep my ego in check.
• I can be charismatic when it benefits the District, but I also immensely value showcasing the talent of others.
• Too much ego gets in the way of what is best for kids.
• I strongly believe in the value existing leadership and am not be threatened by it. I take pride in not only embracing the talents of my staff, but also in discovering and fostering hidden talents and acumen.

I would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Philippians 2:3-4.

With warm regards, 

R. Darren Kesselus 

737-206-4992

• As a young impressionable, and perhaps naïve student teacher, I listed my educational philosophy as being: “I believe all children can achieve no matter what color, creed or adversity; some say, ‘Teach this way’ – others say, ‘No – teach this way’ – to me, it’s not so much the mixture -it’s the tending, mending, and nurturing – that is the key.”
• I still believe that all students can achieve despite whatever impediments are placed before them and sometimes they achieve because, in the struggle to persevere, they discover hidden talent and a previously unknown source of internal fortitude.
• As a Superintendent, I believe that all students and staff can achieve and can excel.
• How you define a student’s progress as excelling must be determined on an individual as well as a grand scale. How you go about providing the infrastructure -the scaffolding -for students to excel requires a level of standardization but individualization, a level of consistency but flexibility. In short, no two students will require the same ingredients nor the same measurements -but all need a strong base, and a viable recipe.
• Given a fair opportunity to improve, staff must improve, grow, evolve; or they must move on. Each day we work with students is precious. Each and every day we are entrusted with their care, we are duty-bound to provide the best learning opportunity we can. Staff who cannot rise to this challenge or can only inconsistently do so, must be guided to seek other opportunities. Staff stagnation is unacceptable, is intolerable.
• I also continue to believe that no one program, no one curriculum and no one plan will serve as a panacea for educating students. Nothing supplants the expert teacher’s instruction, not a specific program, not A.I. However, each staff must be in a continuous improvement process evaluating what is working, how well “it” is working, what requires adjusting, what requires a complete overhaul, and what is due for sunset. Even veteran teachers must continue evolving.
• As an administrator charged with informing the elected officials of the district, I believe a high level of professionalism and candor is required. Building relationships is one of the most essential roles for a superintendent. Earning the trust of the board through my actions, scholarship, and dedication to the district is of paramount importance.
• When dissension among the board exists – it is my job to examine the level of communication, the clarity of data, and the immediate and overarching implications of policy moves – to ensure the board is able to make informed decisions. Where clarity is missing, it is my job to provide that clarity in language that is accessible to everyone.
• When the board’s aggregate opinion differs from my personal opinion – it is my duty to adhere to the directives I am given while concurrently voicing my misgivings or concerns in a professional and courteous manner and when at all possible in closed session as staff, student, and the community at large need to trust their leadership team is solid.
• It is about the children. It must be about the children. We must do whatever it takes, within moral and ethical bounds, to serve our students – it may be cliché – but they are our future.
• In all things, when something in the district does go awry – to borrow President’s Truman’s phrase, “The buck stops here!