New Somers Lakeside Superintendent to Prioritize Building Community Trust
Alex Ator has spent 18 years in public education and begins his first year at Somers Lakeside School District this fall. He sees his strength in connecting people.
By Mariah Thomas
Alexander Ator thinks of education as a “human capital industry,” helping students develop and grow over the course of their school careers.
But that industry has struggled in recent years, especially following the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic worsened several challenges school districts already faced. Ator, the new superintendent at Somers Lakeside School District, said one challenge the pandemic shed light on was the lack of trust between public education and communities. In his new role, Ator hopes to rebuild and restore that trust.
“You can see that there are a lot of people here that love the school, but (I want to) engage with stakeholders, get to know the community, get to know the staff, get to know the kids and build those trust bridges — whether they need to be rebuilt or just firmed up a little bit — and make this the school that it has been and will continue to be,” Ator said.
While this school year might be Ator’s first helming Somers Lakeside, he’s no stranger to public education. After growing up on a farm in Plentywood, in the far northeast corner of Montana, and earning his math education degree at Montana State University, Ator began teaching.
He has spent 18 years either in the classroom, coaching or working as a principal. Most recently, he served as superintendent and principal at Roberts School. That district, located in south-central Montana, serves students from preschool through 12th grade. Ator held the top spot there for 11 years.
“I loved Roberts,” he said. “I enjoyed so many things about Roberts, and I already miss a lot of the kids.”
But he felt he ran out of things he could “fix” in that district with his skillset and wanted to give an opportunity for both parties to take a different direction with new leadership.
His family looked for new job opportunities, focusing on places where their own children would receive a good education, while also mirroring the small communities where Ator and his wife both grew up. Somers Lakeside emerged as a top option.
The school board selected Ator for the superintendency in February, choosing him from a pool of three candidates. Other candidates for the job included Brandy Carlenzoni, formerly the principal/superintendent at Fair-Mont-Egan, and Cheryl Peterson, from North Dakota. Peterson will take over at Creston this fall. Fair-Mont-Egan will also have a new principal/superintendent onboard this school year.
Ator will earn a salary of $120,000 his first year on the job. The board approved a two-year contract. Ator will be eligible for a 3% salary increase in his second year contract.
Somers Lakeside School District will begin the school year on Sept. 2.
“At the end of the day, this business is about creating and opening doors for kids,” Ator said. “And my excitement is to make sure that we keep as many doors open as we can for kids.”
Five Flathead County school districts are primed to start the 2025-2026 school year with new leadership at the helm. Top administrators in Somers Lakeside, Swan River, Fair-Mont-Egan, Creston and Kila either retired or resigned at the end of the last school year. This story is part of a series focused on the new administrators in each district.