SILVER LAKE — John Gendron, a familiar face in the Riverview School community, has been hired as the new district administrator.

Gendron, principal at Elkhorn Middle School, is a resident of Silver Lake. He was chosen from an initial field of 15 applicants, narrowed to three finalists by a committee comprised of board members, staff and community members. The other two finalists were Eileen Bruton, middle school principal at Salem School, and Jason Tadlock, a principal in New Glarus.

Gendron will begin his new duties July 1.

“We were fortunate to have three highly qualified finalists to choose from,” School Board president James Walker said. “Each had their own unique style of management which has served them well in their current positions. Our challenge was to determine which style was best suited for Riverview.”

It was Gendron’s stated goal to help create “a culture and climate of collaboration, professional growth and the commitment to the success of every individual student” the board was most impressed by.

“The clincher for us was when three members of the committee went to John’s school and saw firsthand the positive school culture,” Walker said. “It was evident everywhere — from the staff they talked to, down to the students passing in the halls.”

Gendron, 39, has a master’s degree in educational leadership, a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. He is near completion of the superintendent certification program at Marquette University.

“Certainly this has been a career goal of mine,” Gendron said Monday about the new opportunity. “But what excites me the most is that Riverview is such a great school already — there are so many great things going on — and I will get to help make an already great school a model school for the whole state.”

In addition to serving as principal at Elkhorn Area Middle School since 2004, Gendron also has been an athletic director and an eighth-grade math teacher. He is a recent recipient of a Milken National Educator Award. Recipients are selected on the basis of numerous criteria, including exceptional educational talent shown through student learning results and a presence that motivates and affects students, colleagues and the community.

Gendron has a vested family interest as well as a career interest in the school and is already part of the local community. His children attend the school and his wife is a teacher there. He has served on the Lakeland Youth Baseball board and has volunteered with the Kenosha Athletic Association and the Bulldog football organization.

He said he is excited to work in the community in which he lives and by the opportunity to make connections with people in and out of the school setting. He will be aided in his transition into his new role by Riverview’s acting district administrator, Doug Feld, who took on the role after Todd LeRoy resigned last fall.