Colorado School honors Rodger Quist, a 1958 Oklee School graduate

Longtime Educator Rodger Quist served over 20 years in School District 27J (in Colorado), as a school principal, interim superintendent and director of finance and operations. After  retiring, he continued his support by leading community campaigns for Bond and Mill Levy school funding.

Quist worked in School District 27J from August 1977 to July 1997. His first role was as principal of Northeast Elementary School from 1977 - 1985; then he was principal at Overland Trail Middle School from 1985 - 1990; and served as principal at South Elementary School from 1990 - 1995. Quist served as 27J Executive Director of Finance and Operations from 1995 - 1997. He was also interim Superintendent of School twice duirng his tenure with the District.

Coming from a family of educators, his father was a principal and superintendent and his mother was a teacher. Rodger Quist's father, Carl Quist, served as Superintendent of the Oklee School District from 1942 to 1971. Joanna Quist, his mother taught from 1949-1969.

 Quist had a strong value for education ingrained in him from an early age. Rodger Quist graduated from Oklee High School in 1958. 

He started teaching in 1960 and taught elementary and junior high students in school districts in Minnesota and North Dakota prior to moving to Brigthon, Colorado to join the staff at School District 27J.

His first teaching job in 1960 Quist said, “was in a school that’s not as big as this one. There were 22 students. That was all of them. So each teacher had to do everything.”

"My father was a school superintendent when I was born and my mom was an elementary teacher, so we have a family legacy in education," Rodger Quist said. Quist first became a principal at a Minnesota school. As principal, his motto was: "Do It For The Kids."

Quist attended Mayville State Teacher's College in North Dakota and the University of North Dakota. He earned an educational specialist designation which is a year beyond a master's degree from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota; and conducted a research project in 1979 at Northeast Elementary School to complete the program.

Educator Quist was nominated by a parent in the school district for the new middle school to be named for him. "Mr. Quist has been very active in the District and is always thinking of students at all times," said Parent Roz Rydstrom. "I met him when my son started fifth grade at Northeast Elementary when he was principal there. He is much deserving of this recognition."

Rodger is married to Dian; they raised three children. "I am honored to have a school named after me," Quist said.

The new Rodger Quist Middle School broke ground in August 2018 in Thornton, Colorado for School District 27J.

While the new facility was  under construction, Quist Middle School opened in fall of 2018 and was operating out of the new Riverdale Ridge High School across the street. 

Work on Quist began almost as soon as Riverdale Ridge finished, directly across Yosemite Street, and work was scheduled to be finished in the spring of 2020. District Public Information Officer Tracy Rudnick said the mild weather early in the construction work allowed crews to get ahead, finishing construction in October, when moving crews began bringing in furniture.

The project, made possible by a successful bond issue in 2015, finished seven months ahead of schedule. 

This 132,000,000-square-foot facility, for students in grades 6-8, is located on 21 acres of land and will include a two-story classroom wing featuring state-of-the-art technology, administration area, gymnasium, cafeteria, media center, athletic fields and more. It is a prototype of the Stuart and Prairie View Middle Schools, built by Saunders.

The students moved into the new middle school on January 7, 2020. 

Compiled by Bonny Cote from various sources.