SNOHOMISH – An Everett principal will take the helm of the Snohomish School District’s yet-to-open second high school.
Jim Dean, 50, was tapped this week for the job.
“I’m looking for something to challenge me in a different way,” said Dean, who has headed the 2,000-student Cascade High School for six years.
Dean has been with the Everett School District for 10 years. He was principal at Heatherwood Middle School before Cascade.
Earlier, he worked at Eastside Catholic High School in Bellevue for 14 years as a teacher, vice principal and principal.
Snohomish plans to open its second high school in fall 2008.
The $61 million facility is under construction off Cathcart Way in the district’s growing south end. The work is part of a $141.6 million bond that Snohomish School District voters approved in 2004.
Transition plans call for the school to open with freshmen, sophomores and juniors its first year. Eventually, the new school and Snohomish High School each would enroll about 1,500 students in ninth through 12th grades.
Dean was selected for the job because of his nearly 20 years of experience in principal positions, said Sylvia Roberts, Snohomish’s human resources director.
“Recruiting high school principals is difficult. There is not a lot of people who go into the high school principalship because it is such a demanding position,” she said.
Seventeen people applied for the principal job.
In a message to Everett district staff Wednesday, human resources director Molly Ringo praised Dean.
“His strong leadership, willingness to take a hands-on approach and his belief that all students can learn has helped staff and students live up to Cascade’s motto ‘School of Pride,’ ” she wrote.
Dean, who lives in Everett, formally starts his new post July 1 but is already moving between the two districts. On Thursday, he met with teachers at Snohomish High School and the Snohomish Freshman Campus.
He said his main goals are ensuring a smooth opening and building relationships with teachers, parents and students.
Meanwhile, Cascade High School also will lose one of its two assistant principals.
Andrew Frost is taking the principal’s job at the 1,200-student R.A. Long High School in Longview.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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