Cyndi Loza

Safety, responsibility and respectfulness are the key elements Chad Lindeen wants to help bring to Sparks Middle School as its new assistant principal.

“I’ve always gone by (the) ‘safe, responsible and respectful’ approach,” said Chad Lindeen, 36, of Truckee. “If those three things can happen, it’s a good environment.”

Lindeen said the Truckee Meadows is similar to his early teaching experience as a science teacher for six years in Portland, Ore.

“One of the things that appeals to me (about Reno-Sparks) is the urban environment,” Lindeen said.

But middle school students share similarities no matter where you go, he said.

“They’re (all) trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in,” Lindeen said.

At a glance

• Name: Chad Lindeen
• Age: 36
• Title: Assistant principal, Sparks Middle School
• Resides: Truckee
• Birthplace: Jacksonville, Fla.
• Experience: Seventh grade science teacher in Portland, Ore., for six years; student management specialist for three years; Eagle Valley Middle School principal in Carson City for two years.
• Education: Bachelor’s in philosophy from Hamline University, Saint Paul, Minn.; Master’s in education from Michigan State University; administrator license from Portland State University
• Goals/Mission: “Contribute to the great faculty at Sparks Middle School.”