Principal's Welcome

My name is Derek Pertzborn and I took over as principal of Lodi Middle School in July of 2021. I am truly honored to have the opportunity to serve our community as the principal of the Lodi Middle School and I am dedicated to working with the students, families, staff, and community to make sure that our students have great opportunities each and every day. As a parent of students in the Lodi School District, I have seen first hand the commitment our community has for the kids in our district and look forward to working with stakeholders to continue helping our students grow as people.

Growing up in the Village of Dane, I am no stranger to Lodi and graduated from Lodi High School (1998). I have also lived in the Lodi School District for my entire life and currently reside in the City of Lodi with my wife Emily, who is a middle school teacher, my daughter Tessa (10th grade), and my son Nolan (7th grade). Spending my entire life in this great community and attending its schools has had a tremendously positive impact on my life. As middle school principal my goal is to serve to provide that same positive experience for our students.

After graduating from Lodi High School, I attended UW-Madison where I earned a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Math Education. During my time in Madison I also had the privilege of playing tuba in the University of Wisconsin Marching Band. After college I began my teaching career by teaching high school math at Monona Grove High School for two years and then spent 14 years as a math teacher at Lodi High School. In that time I had the pleasure of building relationships with many students and families in our community. In 2010, I graduated from Viterbo University in La Crosse with a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and in 2016 earned a certificate as Director of Instruction.

In my time as principal, I have been blown away by the middle school staff’s dedication to do what is best for all kids. As a parent, I know first hand that our staff goes above and beyond to build relationships with kids and celebrate their success. One of my primary goals during this school year will be to continue the positive learning environment that already exists at the Lodi Middle School.  As a staff, we want all of our students to feel valued as people and as learners.  We want students to be successful regardless of their background so they are set up for success in future learning.  In order to make this happen we will need to get our students the support they need when they need it.  Each student will require different supports depending on their needs, but by connecting with our students we can determine how we can help each student have success.

I look forward to continuing to serve the students, families, and community with Lodi Pride.

Derek Pertzborn
Lodi Middle School, Principal