PORT TOWNSEND —The administrative team for the Port Townsend School District was completed Monday with the hiring of new principals for Grant Street Elementary School and Blue Heron Middle School.
Mary Sepler, who has taught reading at Grant Street for 22 years, will take over from Steve Finch, who left to take a principal’s job in Arlington.
Diane Lachinsky, who was most recently principal of Durango High School in Durango, Colo., will replace Tom Kent, who served as interim principal at Blue Heron for the 2011-12 school year.
The two new principals will join David Engle, who is taking over the superintendent’s position from Gene Laes.
All three new hires are scheduled to begin work July 1.
Engle, who was hired in March, helped choose the two new principals, Laes said.
Six people were interviewed for the Blue Heron job, while Sepler was the only person considered for Grant Street.
“We thought that doing two searches at once was going to be too much,” Laes said. “Mary was interested in the position and had the support of the schools, so we decided to go with her.”
Lachinsky will be a permanent principal, but Sepler carries an interim title.
“My goal is to be so amazing in this job so they will forget about the ‘interim’ part,” Sepler said.
“That’s exactly what we want to hear,” Laes said when he was told of Sepler’s statement.
Laes said Sepler’s interim status could change and become permanent at any time.
Sepler started as a reading specialist in 1990, the same year Finch became principal.
She is familiar to the students, which will make for an easy transition, she said.
“Steve has provided amazing leadership,” Sepler said of Finch. “This is a highly functional school, and we have the mechanics in place to move forward. I know where we’ve been and where we’re going.”
Finch and Sepler will develop a transition plan over the next two months, working on staffing and making any needed adjustments to the curriculum, she said.
Sepler is married to Port Townsend Development Director Rick Sepler.
“I am humbled and overwhelmed by the support that I have received from the community,” Sepler said. “I’m really excited about this.”
Laes said all of the candidates interviewed for the Blue Heron position were impressive, but Lachinsky stood out because of her enthusiastic attitude.
“When we took Diane to Blue Heron, she went into every classroom and spent two hours talking to the students and asking them all kinds of questions.”
Laes said the new hires are dynamic leaders who will promote creative and innovative thinking and strategies for the students and the district.
“I could not be happier for what they will offer,” said Laes, who himself was serving on an interim basis. “The only down side for me is that I will not have the opportunity to work with them.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
