New principals hired for Chimacum schools

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Ryan Stevens of Sequim will be the next principal at Chimacum Junior/Senior High School, and Leigh F. Schwartz has been hired as the principal for the elementary school.

Both of the new principals have extensive histories in education.

Stevens has been a school principal since 2004 and has been the principal of Quileute Tribal School since 2019.

Schwartz, a Port Ludlow resident, has been principal/assistant principal at Syracuse Arts Academy in Syracuse, Utah since 2018. A music teacher for 20 years, Schwartz has also been a school principal at schools in California.

“I am delighted and proud to welcome Ryan Stevens and Leigh Schwartz to our Chimacum administrative team,” said District Superintendent Scott Mauk.

“Between them they bring almost 40 years of administrative experience at all levels. Both leaders are highly relational and will put students at the center of our work,” Mauk added.

Both of the new hires will officially start work July 1.

“Ryan and Leigh were selected from a range of qualified applicants but truly stood out to the interview teams and community members met the candidates,” Mauk said.

“I think both principals will have an impact right out of the gate and will build on the great work done by their predecessors and the elementary and secondary staff,” he added.

Schwartz began his career in education in the early 1980s and was a teacher in the California school districts of Mesa Union, Moorpark, Pleasant Valley, Chino, and Torrance through 2007.

He took over as principal at El Roble Elementary School in the Gilroy Unified School District in 2007, and in 2009, took over as the principal at West Shores High School in the Coachella Valley Unified School District.

He later worked for the San Bruno Park School District as a principal at Rollingwood and Crestmoor elementary schools, and was also director of student services and special education for the school district, and also an assistant superintendent in human resources and special services.

Schwartz holds a bachelor of music degree from California State University, Long Beach, and earned his master’s degree in educational administration from California Lutheran University.

Before Quileute, Stevens was principal at Stevens Middle School from 2016 through 2019.

He was associate superintendent for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians in 2015-2016, and before that, Stevens was principal at Klahowya Secondary School for 10 years, where the school was named one of the “Top 1500 High Schools in The United States” for eight years straight between 2009 and 2016.

He also led Summit K-12 for the 2004-2005 school year.

Before that, he was an assistant principal and athletic director at Cleveland High School from 2002 through 2004.

Stevens earned a bachelor of arts degree in English education at Whitworth College, and holds a master’s in school administration from Western Washington University. He has been pursuing his doctorate’s degree at Seattle Pacific University.

Stevens has also an All-State baseball player in Washington (1991) and an All- American Scholar (1996). He was named Olympic League Principal of the Year in 2013.

Stevens will fill the spot left vacant by the departure of Kim Kooistra.

Kooistra, principal at Chimacum Junior/Senior High School, decided to return to a teaching role and submitted her resignation letter May 16.

Jason Lynch, principal for Chimacum Elementary and the Pi program, tendered his resignation May 13.