SEQUIM — Sequim High School teacher Gary Pringle will become principal of a 300-student elementary school in Oroville next school year.
“I’m pretty pleased, pretty excited” about his first job as a school principal, said Pringle, 47, on Wednesday.
Pringle, who had not yet signed a contract, will earn about $80,000 as principal of the Oroville Elementary School, according to The Chronicle in Oroville.
The newspaper reported that Pringle was selected to lead the kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school earlier this week. He will replace retiring Principal Joe Worsham in the town near the Canadian border in northeast Washington state.
Pringle has taught for 15 years, and has experience in both elementary and secondary schools.
He has worked at Sequim High School, where he teaches history and literature, since the 2006-07 school year.
“My wife, Christi, and I discussed it and we waited until our son graduated and went to college before I began my administrative certificate,” Pringle said.
Ian Austin, Pringle’s stepson, graduated from Sequim High School in 2007.
Pringle earned his principal certification through Seattle Pacific University. For a year, each week he attended classes in Bremerton one day and in Olympia on another day.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Western Washington University and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from City University of Bellevue.
Pringle was inspired by seven summers of serving as the principal of a summer program in Skagit County called the Best SELF — or Summer Education Learning Fund.
“Half of my staff were usually veteran teachers and the other half were first-year teachers,” he said.
“It was a dynamic experience to see them interact with each other.”
