With the summer finally behind her, Dr. Nicole Jund has taken on her role as principal of Coppell High School with a smile on her face and (approximately) 3,700 students in her heart.

“Summer is the most boring part of my job,” Jund said. “There hasn’t been any moment where I haven’t been happy to be here.”

Jund tries to lead based off of the needs of her students, citing them as one of the biggest motivators of her life.

“In the grand scheme of my life goals, it is one of the most important things I do,” Jund said. “You don’t commit the kind of time it takes to do this job and not have it be part of who you are every moment of every day. The last thing I do at night is worry about [if I did] the right thing today, and every decision I make is rooted in did I make the best choices for the kids at this school.”

The 2017-2018 school year has already been one full of change, from lanyards to block schedule to a new principal and superintendent. While students are making a lot of adjustments from the previous school year, Jund and CHS’s administration staff are doing everything they can to help students adapt to the changes.

“My door is always open,” Jund said. “We are here to serve [students]. We’re here to help you reach your goals and help you find your dreams. We can’t possibly begin to walk in your shoes. I don’t have any expectations of being the first school in the whole wide world to get it right for every single kid, but we can try.”

Coppell ISD Superintendent Brad Hunt is excited about what Jund brings to the job.

“I’m excited about what she’s going to bring to CHS,” Hunt said. “She has a really positive energy and a really innovative mindset that I think is going to be a perfect fit for CHS.”

As with most years, there are issues which arise.

“I wish that I could make all the buses run on time,” Jund said. “Despite the fact that we have very many students in a relatively small space, I think that the kids have been really cooperative with that. I feel like things are really good right now, I’m super pumped.”

After five years working in Lewisville ISD as the principal at Creek Valley Middle School, Jund is excited to to be back in a high school.

“I missed all things high school, I was a coach and a teacher at a high school, I loved being in high school, and so the opportunity to get back here is kind of a dream come true,” Jund said.

Ashley Graham, who worked as a biology teacher at Lewisville High School, where Jund’s students went once graduating from Creek Valley MS, has worked alongside Jund in the past.

“She knows her stuff,” Graham said. “She’s so very intelligent, she’s so very sharp, I definitely think she’s an asset to CHS. I think she’s going to bring a lot of positive change to CHS.”

As Jund settled into her position, she took note of some of CHS’s unique characteristics.

“I love how different every student is,” Jund said. “The conformity that comes with high school, [CHS students]  just don’t have that.”

Jund looks forward to Friday’s football games, and has enjoyed watching the volleyball team play.

Follow Amelia @ameliavanyo