Christiansen will leave the post after nine years to become Anchorage School District's assistant superintendent for instruction.

Volk's tenure with the district includes 12 years as a math teacher at Chugiak High, plus seven years as the Mustangs' athletic director. He began this school year as assistant principal at Bartlett, but was transferred to Chugiak where he currently is staff services assistant principal.

"I think he'll be great," said school board member Debbie Ossiander of Chugiak. "He's a strong instructional leader."

Superintendent Carol Comeau called Volk a strong advocate for the school.

"He lives in the community," she said. "We don't always look for that as a criteria, but that's an important point for the community out there.

"He has a strong math background so he's very aware of the need to continue to stress access to higher levels of math for all students. He also has obvious genuine support from the staff."

Volk was appointed from three finalists for the job. Chugiak High assistant principal Cyd Duffin and Dimond High assistant principal Cheryl Guyett also sought the position.

Comeau said any of the finalists would have been a good choice, saying they were "three good, solid candidates."

There won't be any big changes in store when Volk takes over. Instead, he says the school has been shining in recent years.

"Look at our SAT and ACT scores and we rank at the top of the school district," Volk said. "Our mock trial team won the state tourney again this year. We have a robotics team going to national competition all the time.

"We have been moving in a positive direction, and it is my job to continue that."

He has supervised construction at the school and worked as a backup administrator in discipline issues this year. Volk, whose daughter is a Chugiak freshman, has worked closely with Christiansen.

She is comfortable leaving the school in his hands.

"Rick is wonderful," Christiansen said. "He is an excellent communicator and is dedicated to doing things right."