Profiles

As Larry Linthacum packed up his office Thursday morning, he took some time to reflect on his four years in Maryville, leading the R-II School District. “Honestly, there’s kind of mixed emotions,” he said, sitting at a table in the corner of his nearly bare office. “It’s been a great experience. The community has really welcomed my family and I feel very blessed for that. … My four years here was great, it was great for me personally. I’d like to think I’ve grown as a person, as a leader.” Linthacum spent Thursday — his final day as R-II’s top administrator — speaking about the people in the community and the people within the Maryville School District, saying they were the reason his four years in Maryville were successful and memorable. “We’ve got great teachers and great administrators; we’ve got great parents, and we’ve got great kids,” he said. “I’ve felt like our vision was to become a model school district. Are we a model school district? No. But that’s our vision of where we were trying to keep moving and looking toward down the road. My goal was to make a difference at this place and give kids hope. “I’m a believer in you surround yourself with great people, and I think we’ve done that,” he said. “When you do that, you keep focus of why we’re in education and that’s for kids. “It’s easy to get distracted with all the stuff. There’s a lot of things pulling — there’s less funding and the state has more accountability requirements — all those things that could be frustrating, but I’ve felt like we were able to collectively get everybody rolling in the same direction for kids.” Linthacum resigned in December after accepting a comparable position with the Jefferson City Public School District, a position he said he initially declined having interest in when he was contacted.