RIDGWAY – The months-long search is finally over, and Ridgway High School has a new principal.

After making two trips to visit the school and the town, Jim Bob Hobbs of Idalou, Tex., has accepted the job.

Ridgway School District personnel director Michelle Pottorff said Hobbs beat out four other finalists for the position, all of them with both administrative and teaching credentials. Also vying for the position were Vicci Carricato of Englewood, Margaret Downs-Gamble of Boulder, Julie Edner of Colorado Springs, and Nigel Whittington from Idaho.

A 14-member search committee helped with the selection process, Pottorff said; it included teachers, administrators, support staff, community members, parents and students.

“They all interviewed the candidates and the board also had the opportunity to meet Mr. Hobbs when he came back for his second site visit,” she said.

Hobbs said from his office as principal of Roosevelt High School in Lubbock, Tex., that his first day at Ridgway will be Nov. 2.

He and his wife Juli, and three children, Garrett, 8; Katy Beth, 5; and Braun, 3, will move into a house owned by the school district while they look for a permanent home in the area, he said.

Hobbs said the move will be quite a change from Idalou, located in west Texas northwest of Lubbock in an agricultural area of consisting mostly cotton fields.

“It will be a very drastic change as far as the landscape goes,” he said.

It may be new terrain and a new school, but Hobbs brings a lot of experience to the job. He got his masters’ in education and his superintendent’s certification from Texas Tech University. He is currently 12 hours away from obtaining his doctorate from the same school.

And the timing was right for Hobbs.

“It’s a move we’ve been contemplating for a couple of years, and Ridgway just seemed like the right opportunity to pursue,” he said.

Hobbs said his greatest challenge will be to keep Ridgway going in the direction in which it is already heading.

“Ridgway is a high-performance school compared to other schools in the state,” he said. “It’s inherent not only keeping that level of performance but stepping up performance.”

Hobbs said he has met most of the high school staff and is anxious to get started.

“They seemed like a close-knit and close group and a great team to become a part of,” he said.