While she hasn’t been gone all that long, Baylee (Relf) Hemmer has always known that she wanted to return to Flandreau.
“It’s home, and it’s always been home,” Hemmer said.
A proud Flandreau graduate herself, Hemmer, is stepping this year into the role of principal at Flandreau Elementary School.
“When the position opened up, I was like, ‘I have to take a shot at it.’”
Hemmer’s ties to Flandreau run deep. She lives just outside of Colman, but the community of Flandreau has always been home and held a special place in her heart. Her return is even more meaningful given that her parents are long-time educators in the district. Her father, Brian Relf, is a colleague just down the hall and someone she says she has called on often for advice, and her mother, Julie, has been teaching fifth and sixth grade English here for nearly four decades. She says it’s an honor to work with both and grateful they see her not only as their daughter, but a colleague.

Hemmer’s path to the principal’s office began after she graduated from Flandreau High School. She earned her degree in elementary education from Augustana University in 2019 and recently completed her master’s degree through the University of Sioux Falls in May 2024.
For the past five years, she has been teaching English Language Arts to fifth graders at the intermediate school in Brandon.
Hemmer is passionate about creating what she describes as a “quality product” in education.
“That’s what we produce out of our classrooms every day,” she explained.
“In some ways, I’m a quality assurance manager as well as a principal. I was just able to control the quality coming out of my room before, but now I have the opportunity to help oversee that at a school level. I think that educators have the enormous opportunity to impact kids’ lives, and now I get to see that from multiple perspectives.”
One of Hemmer’s primary focuses is on supporting the growing population of English Language Learners (ELL) in the school. Her master’s project focused on increasing the capacity of rural schools to support ELL students, and she is eager to bring that insight to Flandreau Elementary.
“That’s not a quarter one project,” she acknowledged. “That’s a multi-year, long-term project. But I’m excited about that piece of my job for sure.”
Despite her youth, Hemmer is confident she is ready for the challenge. “I’ve spent a lot of time putting myself into a position where I could lead,” she said.
Reflecting on her past and looking ahead to her new role, she recalled a moment during her senior year, where former High School Principal Ross Rollinger passed by her dad’s office one day while she just happened to be sitting at his desk.
“He walked by. Looked, and then came back and said, ‘It didn’t phase me you were sitting in that seat.’ And until that point I had never thought of myself as a principal, but someone else saw it in me. Others have also encouraged me along this path and I’ve always kept that in the back of my mind. I just feel I’m ready for this.”