From walking the halls as a student in the 1990s, to working as a social studies teacher and coach, a dean of students and now returning to The Nest as Central’s 21st principal, Eric Behrens was named the succeeding principal to Ellisa Kirksey on Feb. 10.

Behrens graduated from Central in 1992 before coming back to work as a social studies teacher and coach boys basketball for 18 years, where he led Central to seven Nebraska Class A state titles, with a brief break in that time to coach at Peru State College. Behrens then returned to Central to work as a dean of students before joining Westview High School in the school’s first three years as the athletic director. After his time at Westview, Behrens moved to Marrs Middle School for the 2025-2026 school year, where he currently serves as principal.  

When Kirksey’s retirement was announced, Behrens felt thankful. “Thankful to her for so many decades of service, working with her role as assistant principal, activities director, she’s put so much blood sweat and tears into that building, I just appreciate it,”  Behrens said.  

Behrens didn’t just know Kirksey as a colleague, but as someone who was instrumental in so many students’ lives, including Behrens’ own kids, both of whom attended Central.  

“She is just a great relationship builder, and I think Central owes her a huge debt of gratitude just for taking the principal position when she did, but also for her years of service,” Behrens said.  

Kirksey appreciated Behrens just as much.  

“He was here as a student, he was here as a teacher, a coach, a dean, an athletic director and now principal. He has seen schools from all possible lenses,” Kirksey said. “It’s bittersweet, but I’m excited. Sometimes I look at stuff and get teary eyed, but it’s going to be good, Central will thrive regardless.” 

Behrens said it didn’t take long to decide he was going to enter his name into the pool of applicants. There is a waiting period for the position to officially open at the district level, which allowed him a few days to mull over the decision. Once that position officially opened, his name was in that pool because “a job like Central doesn’t come along that often,” Behrens said.  

In the hours following the announcement of his hiring as the new principal, Behrens said, “I heard from so many people I hadn’t heard from in such a long time because it was my classmates, people I went to school with, former students, former staff members I had worked with all reaching out. It was pretty overwhelming.” 

Central staff are excited to have a former Eagle return. 

“Whenever you talk about Eric Behrens, you think champ high, he’s a legacy here. You have a rich history from that, and with all of the change in the district there is a sense of comfort at a school like Central where we value tradition,” social studies teacher Casey Denton said. 

“I’m excited for something new. Behrens will bring that institutional knowledge, the way we do things, or the expectation of teachers and students that he will try and reinstitute, I think that’s a good thing,”social studies teacher Jordan Boyer said.   

Behrens said there was no hesitancy to apply, despite the 2025-2026 school year being his first at Marrs Middle. When he was applying for the Central position, he had only been at Marrs for around six months.  

“I felt like I had just gotten here. In terms of fairness to my staff and my students, now that was the only thing that I really had to think about, otherwise for me it was a no brainer,” Behrens said. 

Within the Omaha Public Schools district, the resume to become a high school principal typically requires holding a leadership position within a school, whether as a dean, assistant principal, athletic director or department head. Behrens has three of those positions under his belt.  

When asked if holding other leaderships roles played in his decision to leave Central and go to Westview and Marrs, Behrens said, “It was in the back of my mind, but I wouldn’t say that I came to Marrs just because of that.” He had always been told, “You gotta go to grow,” and he took that mindset with him.  

“In order for me to get back full circle here, it was probably beneficial for me to go out and be an assistant principal,” Behrens said.  

Some Central staff members were confident he’d return.  

“When he left, we were all like, ‘We’ll see you in a couple of years,’” Denton said. 

Central will be experiencing some changes alongside Behrens returning to Central, one of which is the switch from department heads to curriculum specialists, a system Behrens worked with for three years at Westview. He said the specialists he worked with were driving the instructional initiatives building-wide, working in the classroom with teachers and providing feedback and support.

“If things are aligned properly and use the position the way that it is meant to be used, it can be a tremendous asset to students and to your classroom,” Behrens said. 

He said he was most excited about reconnecting with old coworkers he had worked with for decades, the teaching staff, working with alumni groups, the Central High School Foundation and students.  

“As a colleague, he was an excellent teacher, and I would argue an even better dean because of that calm presence, leadership, and ability to establish and follow through on expectations,” Denton said. 

People being proud to come from Central is a main goal of everyone. “Making sure students graduating this year, next year, and following years are just as excited and proud of going to Central as we have been for 20, 30, 40 years,” Behrens said.  

And now it’s his turn to lead the way. 

“To go back, it feels like coming home,” Behrens said.