KCSD welcomes new principals, vice principals, administrators
Sept. 9, 2021 / The Klamath County School District has some new leaders at schools and in the district office for the 2021-22 school year.
The district’s three new principals are all veteran administrators with the district. Several veteran teachers also have been promoted to vice principal positions, and the district has hired a social and emotional learning administrator, a new K-8 special programs principal, an associate director of special services, and a federal programs administrator.
The district office administrative team welcomes new directors of its human resources, special services, and elementary curriculum departments.
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Henley High School: A familiar face takes the reins of Henley High School this fall. Andrea Gray, who has served as Henley’s vice principal since 2014, has been hired as the school’s new principal, replacing Jack Lee, who retired in July after six years as the top Hornet and 32 years with the district.
Gray started with the Klamath County School District in 1996, teaching in Bonanza for several years before transferring to Mazama High School in 2010, where she taught English for four years before being promoted to the vice principal of curriculum at Henley High School. She began her teaching career in 1994 at Dayville High School, a rural school near John Day, Ore. She taught all the required English courses as well as journalism, drama, health, and P.E.
Joining Gray as the school’s new vice principal of curriculum and instruction is Kathleen Todd, who began her career with the district in 1997 at Mazama High School, teaching advanced English and German and serving as senior project coordinator for 15 years. She earned her a master’s degree in school administration in 2011 and said she is excited to be Hornet.
“My goals for this year include reconnecting our students with what it means to be part of the in-person Hornet family and swarm,” Gray said. “I want to both maintain and expand student opportunities for success beyond high school, and continue the tradition of excellence in all areas that have been the hallmark of Henley High School. We have exciting changes coming that will provide our students with more options than they’ve ever had.”
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Brixner Junior High School: Ruben Paschal is the new principal at Brixner Junior High School. He replaces Leslie Garrett, who retired in June after 31 years with the district.
Paschal has taught for 13 years, and has been with the county school district since 2015. He was a sixth-grade teacher at Stearns Elementary School before taking an administrative position as vice principal at Shasta Elementary five years ago. In December 2019, he transferred back to Stearns as the school’s vice principal. Paschal is bilingual in Spanish and English.
“I am looking forward to working with Brixner’s dynamic staff, dedicated parents, and involved community members,” Paschal said. “Most of all, I look forward to working with students and continuing the outstanding work that is taking place at Brixner Junior High School.”
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Gilchrist Schools: Melanie Mobley, a longtime teacher and elementary assistant principal, takes over the reins as K-12 principal, replacing Steve Prock who retired in June after five years leading the school and an education career spanning more than three decades. Mobley has worked with the Gilchrist School community for 12 years as a teacher and administrator. Before moving to Gilchrist, she taught overseas in Austria for three years.
“I am looking forward to working with students throughout their entire educational experience from preschool through their senior year,” she said. “I also look forward to continuing to create a culture of family and support for all students and helping them find what inspires them to succeed.”
Joining Mobley will be Sean Bedell, who joins the district as Gilchrist’s vice principal and athletic director. He comes to the district with 18 years of teaching experience, most recently at Lincoln County School District in Newport, Ore. Bedell spent 13 years of his career teaching at Eddyville, a K-12 school 24 miles east of Newport in the coast range. “I really enjoyed my time there and have been wanting to return to a K-12 model,” he said. “I appreciate the quality of connections you can make with students and families in K-12 schools. I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone in the community and building those relationships.”
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Mazama High School: Longtime administrator Jennifer Hawkins has been named interim principal at Mazama High School. Hawkins has been vice principal of curriculum at the school for the past two years and has worked for the district since 1998. Valli Lonner, director of federal programs, and Leslie Garrett, retired Brixner Junior High School principal, will jointly serve as interim vice principal of curriculum.
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Malin, Merrill, and Gearhart elementary schools: Heidi Brookshire is the new vice principal for Malin, Merrill, and Gearhart elementary schools. Brookshire has taught third-grade at Ferguson Elementary School since 2014. Brookshire began her career as an educator in 2010 at Redding Christian School in Palo Cedro, Calif., as a teacher and varsity basketball coach.
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Chiloquin Junior/Senior High School: Chiloquin math teacher Jennifer Dunham takes on an administrative role this fall as vice principal and athletic director at the high school. Dunham began teaching math and leadership at Chiloquin in 2015. Before she entered education, Dunham worked as an independent contractor with small businesses, helping streamline their payroll, banking, and operations.
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Stearns Elementary School: An educator from Fayetteville, Ark., joins Stearns Elementary School as its vice principal. Leighanna Rickman worked as a special services educator, trainer, and administrator at Fayetteville Public Schools since 2011. She has specialized training and certification in administration, special education, leadership, and adaptive curriculum.
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Falcon Heights Academy/Great Basin Homeschool Center: Andy Bracco has been named vice principal at Falcon Heights Academy and Great Basin Homeschool Center this fall. Bracco joined the district in 2018 as vice principal at Mazama High School and most recently served a special services principal for the district. He has worked in education since 1999. Bracco will work with Principal Joe Tacchini to lead the district’s alternative, homeschool, and online programs.
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Director of Human Resources: Heather Harper is the district's new director of human resources, replacing Mark Greif, who is retiring after more than three decades in education and 24 years with the district. Harper has been a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, a high school biology teacher, a middle school algebra teacher, an assistant high school principal and most recently a high school principal at a 2,700-student high school in Liberty Union High School in Brentwood, Calif. She has seven years of teaching experience and eight years of administrative experience.
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Director of Elementary Curriculum: Dr. Doris Ellison is the district’s new director of elementary curriculum. Ellison comes to the district with 20 years of administrative experience in public education, 15 of those years in K-12 curriculum where she developed and implemented curriculum processes and trained administrators in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
She started her education career as an elementary teacher and worked for eight years as a school administrator. Before joining KCSD in July, she was director of teaching and learning at Castle Rock School District in Castle Rock, Wash.
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Director of Special Services: Jennifer Sedlock is the district’s new director of special services, taking the reins following the retirement of Laura Blair, who worked with special services with KCSD for 30 years.
Sedlock started with the county school district in 2008 as vice principal at Henley High School. She was principal at Henley in 2011-12 before leaving the district for other administrative opportunities in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Sweet Home, Ore., and Honolulu, Hawaii. She returned to KCSD in 2019 as vice principal at Chiloquin Junior/Senior High for two years before accepting the special services administration position.
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Federal Programs Administrator: Veteran teacher Valli Lonner has been named as federal programs administrator for the district. A longtime educator, she started with the district in 2018 as a teacher at Bonanza Junior-Senior High School. She most recently taught at Lost River Junior/Senior High School. She is bilingual in English and Spanish. In her new position she will manage and implement federal grants and programs and provide leadership and assistance with school and district improvement plans.
Social and Emotional Learning Administrator: Stacey Ramirez, a veteran teacher and school counselor, will lead the district’s social and emotional learning team. Ramirez worked since 2014 as a school counselor at Henley Middle School. As part of her new role, she will design and implement district and school-level systems to reduce disrupted learning, vicarious trauma, and educator burnout was well as improve teacher effectiveness, collaboration, school culture, and student achievement.
K-8 Special Programs Principal: Teri DeGroot has been named K-8 special programs principal. DeGroot has worked with the district in special education since 2007. She has been a direct instruction coach as a CPI district trainer, leading implementation of a district special programs classroom, providing mentoring, and participating on school improvement teams.
Associate Director of Special Services: Robin DeLong, a longtime special education teacher and evaluation coordinator with the district, will step up into the associate director role, which includes the position of secondary special programs principal. DeLong has worked with the district since 2007 and has experience as a trainer and instructional coach in reading intervention, and is a former lead of the secondary special education ELA team.
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