Paula, Skibsted step into BVMS principal roles
Jill Meier/BV Journal
Standing in one of the new eighth-grade wings constructed over the past year, Jordan Paula and Kim Skibsted are the new administrative team at Brandon Valley Middle School this year. Both the head and associate principals, respectively, transferred from the high school from their previous assignments.
A new “sheriff” and “deputy” at Brandon Valley Middle School will be welcoming nearly 850 students later this month when the 2026-27 academic year begins. But the new administrators come in the form of two familiar faces: Jordan Paula and Kim Skibsted.
Paula has served as an assistant principal at Brandon Valley High School for past five years, and has been assigned the role of principal at BVMS. Skibsted, a 2002 BVHS grad herself, returns to the building where she once walked the halls as a student, taking on the role of assistant principal after nearly two decades in education.
Their arrival coincides with another exciting milestone for the school. Students and staff will return this fall to expanded facilities that include new classrooms, a larger kitchen and an activity room, all designed to accommodate the district’s continued growth.
For Paula, the transition to the middle school serves as both a homecoming and a new challenge.
“I was very passionate about what we did at the high school, getting kids ready for the next step, getting to know that staff, those students. It was an incredible opportunity,” he said. “I started my teaching career in the middle school, teaching for five years in Rapid City in the middle school, and so it’s always been ‘Hey, what if the position becomes available.’ … I don’t care who you are, middle school is tough. You can be an excellent student, but middle school can still be tough – the social emotional pieces, a lot of many changes, and how do we help students do that? That’s an exciting challenge to just try to help with that in some way.”
For Skibsted, returning to Brandon Valley Middle School feels like coming home.
Skibsted began her career teaching family and consumer sciences, health and reading before moving into English language arts at BVMS. After serving as an instructional coach in Harrisburg, she returned to Brandon Valley High School for the past two years.
“The position opened up, and it was like, ‘I’d love to go back there and see how I can help, see how I can serve staff and students,’” she said. “It’s just an exciting opportunity to come back to the middle school.”
Since learning they would become the
