Snoqualmie Valley School District welcomes 100 new teachers this school year

Snoqualmie Valley School District increased its efforts recruiting teachers in the past year, with the result that 100 new teachers and other educators were hired to the district for this school year.

September 6, 2016 3:15 pm
Courtesy PhotoNewly hired teachers attending orientation in Snoqualmie Valley School District Aug. 22 are pictured from left: front - Lori Stanton
Courtesy PhotoNewly hired teachers attending orientation in Snoqualmie Valley School District Aug. 22 are pictured from left: front - Lori Stanton

Snoqualmie Valley School District increased its efforts recruiting teachers in the past year, with the result that 100 new teachers and other educators were hired to the district for this school year.

District staff began recruiting last February, and all of the new hires have made it through a rigorous hiring process which included multiple rounds of interviews, reference checks, verification of certification and background checks through the Washington State Patrol and FBI databases.

Teachers participated in orientation sessions June 30 or Aug. 22. New hires included

At Timber Ridge Elementary School: Natalie Opsvig, kindergarten; Kristen Hedger, grade 1; Lynn Crumb and Julia Olsby, grade 3; Lena Baunsgard and Sierra Shaller, grade 5; Rebecca Rice, music; Janelle Coughran, Angela Fowler, Laura Francel, Monica Rutherford, Krista Jordan and Lisa Mitchell, paraeducators; Amy Soltys, librarian; Lindsay Logsdon, head secretary; and Nicole Edwards, secretary.

At Cascade View Elementary School: Bethany Waller, and Julie Silverman, paraeducators; Heidi Huches, grade 2; Eric Johnson, special education; Heather Guck and Bryan Norgard, grade 5.

At Fall City Elementary School: Debbie Goetz and Becca Cohn, grade 2; Jennifer Nelson, grade 4; Sue Frederick, physical education; Heidi Cogle, health room assistant; and Karen Greer and Kristel Hoebers Harteveld, paraeducators.

At North Bend Elementary School: Madison Meredith, kindergarten; Jenni Geel, grade 1; Dianna Kraml, grade 2; Nancy Flanagan, tech lab; Melanie Jarocki, physical education; Chloe Thomsen, paraeducator; Jodie Rosenlund, head cook; and Julie Crowell, cook helper.

At Opstad Elementary School: Stephanie Corell, kindergarten; Danielle Johnson and Damaris Melton, grade 1; Hannah Ferguson, grade 2; Julia Dorn, grade 4; Keely Wayne, special education; Brian Lamonte, paraeducator; Ryan Vidos, resource room; Stacey Chable-Xool, cook helper.

At Snoqualmie Elementary School: Laurie Fitzpatrick and Claudia Christen, kindergarten; Megan Rice, grade 1; Emily Bates, counselor; Ann Miller, resource room; Kathleen Clancy, speech language pathologist; Rhonda Apostol, Amy Hunter and Crickett Warrick, paraeducators; and Judy Lore, cook helper.

At Chief Kanim Middle School: Britta Perkins, science; Kristin O’Riordan, U.S. history; Chantell Eng, language arts; Elayne Grueber, math; Rosalva Gonzales, custodian; and Angela Krpata, secretary.

At Twin Falls Middle School: Michelle Hayes, math; Lori Stanton, Matt O’Hare and Heather Holmes, science; and Kaitlyn Usselman, grades 6/7.

At Two Rivers School: Robin Walbeck-Forrest, special education; and Julie Choudhuri, nurse;

At Mount Si High School: MaryJill Nelson, Joyce Bashford, Janell Klovdahl, Colleen Schmidt and Erik Tierney, special education; Sheryl Dunton, speech language pathologist; Kelly Hawkins, marketing education; Stephani Martinell, ASL; Liane Venezia, nurse, Lindsay Clark and Oracio Valdez, counselors; Marci Eubanks, ELL and Title III specialist; Alison Channita and Shelley Cornell, paraeducators; Gaude Gorel-Trujillo, French and Spanish; Bill Leather, band; J. Johnson, science; Tyler Baxter and Mark Bernatz, math; Robert Richey, girls basketball head coach; Melissa Croshaw, girls basketball assistant coach; Jason Griffith, boys basketball head coach; Robby Sortore, cheer competition coach; Joshua Mitchell, wrestling head coach; David Moses, wrestling assistant coach; and Carly Petrzelka, girls swim assistant coach.

Other district hires include Megan Rea, psychology intern; Lara Davia, Title 1/LAP specialist; Trista Bamer, STREAM; Nicole Carroll and Lesley Pace, Parent Partner Program; Eric Hogan, computer technician; and Amanda Hollingsworth, personnel secretary.

Lena Baunsgard, Alison Channita, Julia Dorn, Heather Holmes, Nicole Edwards, Joshua Mitchell and Natalie Opsvig are all Mount Si High School graduates returning to the community.