A nearly life-size white and brown bulldog, put together perfectly from magazine cutouts, overlooks Josh Mounts’ office.

On top of that rests the head of a gray bulldog with a spiky collar, seemingly growling at those who may enter, painted on a blue canvas.

Seated at his desk, Mounts is business as usual, welcoming periodic interruptions from both staff and students. No day during the past five years as the Baker Intermediate School principal has been the same, Mounts said. His schedule never seems to go according to plan.

Mounts, who has been an educator for 15 years, took the position as Baker’s principal when the district completed its consolidation and reconfiguration efforts. Before Baker, he was an assistant principal at the former Clark County Middle School for four years.

There’s a tiny bulldog figurine perched atop Mounts’ desk, and a white bulldog-shaped cookie jar on a shelf by one of the many doors in Mounts’ office. Above the shelf, there’s another painting of a bulldog, but this bulldog seems to be smiling in its University of Kentucky ball cap, a nod to Mounts’ alma mater.

Mounts started his career in Fayette County teaching eighth-grade social studies after graduating from UK.

The bulldog is Baker’s school mascot, and they are everywhere.

Mounts said he has always enjoyed working with children; he had helped coach youth sports in Lexington. There were times during which Mounts considered a career as a lawyer, but as time went on he naturally gravitated toward education, he said.

“My undergrad was going to be pre-law,” Mounts said. “ … Not going to college was never an option. My parents, they had high expectations that I would go even though they had never went to college. It was an expectation that I would go and that I would get a degree and get a job. So things just kind of fell into place.”

After college, Mounts thought he would be teaching high school history, but he saw an opening to teach eighth-grade social studies, and from there, a series of opportunities continued to open doors for Mounts that he had never previously considered.

“It just so happened that there was a new middle school in Fayette County opening,” Mounts said. “I applied and got the job, and I became a social studies teacher for six years. And it was a brand-new school, so I had opportunities to move up quickly and get involved in school leadership.”

As the years went on, he saw the appeal of the administration side of education as he could work with both staff and students to make the school the best it could be.

“That’s the great thing about Baker,” Mounts said. “You have an opportunity to mold and shape things to make it great for kids, to make it great for families. The concept of teamwork and everyone working together to do great things for students and to do great things for your school’s families. It’s always interesting.”

On a day-to-day basis, Mounts is always looking for ways Baker can improve. He visits classrooms, assists teachers, checks in with students and more, trying to remove as many barriers as possible to help students whether it be in the classroom or beyond the school’s walls.

Liza Thomas, a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Baker, said Mounts begins each school day circulating the hallways, making sure to genuinely greet every single person, from the teachers to the cooks to the bus drivers to the custodians, to the office staff, and certainly the students.

“He has a way of making everyone realize their value and their influence,” Thomas said in an email. “I see his leadership each day with his morning stroll and taking time to positively welcome a new Baker Day, every day.”

It can be challenging to run a fifth and sixth-grade intermediate school, Mounts said, as there aren’t many nearby schools that are of a similar model.

Baker is paving its path without a guide, and while it may be tough at times, Mounts said an intermediate school is the right choice for the community.

“Clark County’s configuration is unique,” he said. “Being a traditional middle school guy, I I can tell you that taking those sixth-grade babies and removing them from seventh and eighth grade and even from the high school kids that they will get on the bus within the afternoon. I can tell you it has been wonderful.”

Renee Ware, a sixth-grade math teacher at Baker, said Mounts creates a positive culture and climate for Baker’s students and staff. Ware said he implements plans to ensure the school improves every year.

Baker has grown and developed significantly since its inception from the formation of its teams of teachers to scheduling, class and club options, intervention programs and more.

“We’ve tried to find that intermediate blend of elementary and middle school,” Mounts said.

Within five years, Baker built a playground, added recess, constructed a basketball court and purchased more than 800 Chromebooks, laptops and iPads.

Mounts has watched parent involvement multiply, and the school’s communication efforts are stronger than ever before, he said.

“I’m proud of the work that goes on here daily with students and teachers and staff,” Mounts said. “We try our absolute best to communicate all the great things that go on in this school, whether it be a child getting an award, our chorus, our band, or orchestra being recognized a teacher being recognized.

“We have a strong communication team, whether it be weekly newsletters to families, our website, or Facebook, or Instagram, our school messenger system when we call families. We try to keep parents in the loop with everything that goes on here. If you don’t know what’s happening at Baker Intermediate, you’re probably living under a rock somewhere.”

But above all, it’s the people that make Baker a success, Mounts said.

“I’m talking about the kids, the teachers, the staff,” he said. “This is the best gig in education in Clark County.”

Two more bulldog statues sit on a black bookshelf in his office. One is sitting with its tongue out, teeth showing; it’s ready for something.

Mounts said he is ready to work with his staff and the district to improve upon the foundation they have built together over the past five years at Baker. In the coming years, he said he hopes to strengthen Baker’s RTI (Response to Intervention) Program so that Baker can better help students in reading and math.

Mounts said potential schedule changes are also in the works, and he would love to see some parts of Baker’s building renovated when funding becomes available.

“I just think we get better and better each year,” he said.

While it’s essential to celebrate Baker’s successes, Mounts said he keeps in mind that there have been learning curves along the way. His staff brings their “A-game” every day.

“I tell my staff you’re only as strong as your weakest link,” Mounts said. “And if you’re the weakest link in this building, you’re going to stand out. I’ve never seen a staff work so hard.”

Mounts said he also has high expectations for students.

“We want to be high performing and high functioning,” he said.

Mounts said he only wishes Baker could keep the students a bit longer.

“I think the most challenging part, as good as that fifth and sixth grade age group is, is we only have these kids for two years,” Mounts said. “I wish I could have this staff and the students for at least three years.”

Everything Mounts does — or anything at all, he said — comes down to Baker’s school motto: Believe, Inspire, Succeed.

“I think you have to believe in yourself that you can,” Mounts said. “And if you believe you can then that will develop into a want. And hopefully you feel inspiration from your teachers, and you’re inspiring to help others and help yourself, and then you will be successful.”

A blue-and-white decorative tissue box on the second shelf of Mounts’ black bookcase features a stitched white bulldog on its side; on the front, it proudly proclaims “Bulldogs Rule.”

Mounts said he plans to stay with Baker as long as they will have him because, well, “Bulldogs Rule.” Mounts’ collection of bulldog memorabilia counts higher than the years he has spent at Baker. As the years go on, he may run out room for figures and statues on the shelves of his office and the wall may run out of space for bulldog paintings and drawings, but Mounts said there is always room in his heart for the love he has for Baker.

“I love the teachers, the staff, the students,” Mounts said. “I love this district wholeheartedly, and I just think it’s great, and again, it can be a struggle. I mean everything’s not rainbows and rose-colored glasses all the time, but it’s good to know that you’ve got people in the boat with you, rowing in the same direction, and they’re there to support you.”