principal candidates: reason for optimism

CHS will have next year's principal before summer, it appears. The final three candidates are profiled in this morning's Olympian. Highlights:

Olympia native Nancy Faaren has been the principal at Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver, Wash., for four years. Fort Vancouver has high poverty, high mobility and many non-native English speakers, she said. However, Faaren said she has made it a priority to ensure as many students as possible graduate by offering specialized programs to meet their needs....

Peggy Ellis has been the principal at Oak Harbor Middle School in Oak Harbor for four years. She said that in that time, she has helped the school improve its scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning....

If hired, Ellis said, she would try to increase the school’s career and technical education offerings as a way to connect more students to school.

Kirsten Rae has been North Thurston High School’s assistant principal in Lacey for two years. She also worked for several years as a teacher on Olympia’s west side at Capital and at Jefferson Middle School. She said her familiarity with Capital would be an asset. If hired, Rae said, she would work to bolster connections between Capital and incoming eighth-grade students and parents.

A leadership transition is always daunting, so it's good that the mood of the interview committees--both staff and students--is optimistic. With a raft of retirees, we'll have one of our largest groups of new hires headed our way in some time. Next year's CHS is going to be a markedly different place.