Derik Hutton Named Principal of South Ripley High School

He has been Principal at South Ripley Junior High School the last 4 years.

                                  Pictured L to R:   Jeff Cornett, Derik Hutton, River Hutton, Hawk Hutton, and Casey Hutton (Photo Provided)

(Versailles, Ind.) - South Ripley Community School Corporation is pleased to announce that Derik Hutton has been named the new Principal of South Ripley High School beginning July 1, 2024.  Hutton will replace Joe Ralston who announced his retirement effective at the end of the current school year.  Ralston has been serving as the Principal at South Ripley High School for the past six years, and was the school’s Guidance Counselor for four years before being named Principal. 

Hutton is an alumnus of South Ripley High School, graduating in 2002 and will become the first alumnus of the school to serve in the role of High School Principal.  For the past four years Derik has served as the Principal of South Ripley Junior High School and led the school to achieving STEM Certification from the Indiana Department of Education in 2023, scoring the first ever perfect score on the STEM Certification Rubric.  Hutton also led the staff in implementing a comprehensive curriculum that emphasized both academic achievement and character development that resulted in a measurable improvement in standardized test scores and had an overall positive impact on the school’s culture.

Prior to coming to South Ripley Junior High School, Hutton spent 12 years teaching health and physical education at Southwestern Hanover Middle and High Schools.  He also served in the role of Head Baseball Coach for 11 years at Southwestern, leading the program to the two most successful seasons in the past 20 years in 2017 and 2018. In addition to teaching at Southwestern, Hutton also served as an adjunct professor at Hanover College from 2017 through 2022 working with future teachers. 

Derik received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Southern Indiana in 2007 and earned a Master’s Degree from Ball State University in 2017.  He earned a second Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Western Governors University (WGU Indiana) in 2021, and is currently enrolled in the Ed.S. program in Educational Leadership at Indiana State University.   

Derik and his wife, Casey, live in Versailles with their two children Hawk, age 8, and River, age 5. Casey is employed as a special education teacher at South Ripley Elementary School. 

Rob Moorhead, South Ripley Community School Corporation Superintendent commented, “We are very pleased that Derik was interested in moving into the role of principal at SRHS.  He has done a fantastic job leading our junior high school and building relationships with students, parents and staff members over the past four school years.  He is a proven, respected leader and is the right person at the right time to help guide SRHS to accomplish the priorities and initiatives laid out in our District Strategic Plan.  Derik’s passion and vision for providing exceptional student experiences make him the perfect fit for this position.  SRHS will benefit greatly from his leadership.”