Sean C. Morgan
The District 55 School Board hired Terry Augustadt as principal of Hawthorne Elementary School and Colleen Henry as principal of Oak Heights Elementary School during a special session Monday night.
Henry has been a language arts teacher at Sweet Home Junior High School for eight or nine years, and Augustadt has been counselor at Hawthorne and Holley for four or five years.
They succeed Ryan Beck at Hawthorne and Derek Barnhurst at Oak Heights. Beck is taking a position in Creswell, and Barnhurst is moving to Wyoming.
When Supt. Don Schrader learned that Beck had been hired in Creswell, he surveyed the Hawthorne staff and set up a committee including, two teachers, a special education teacher, the secretaries, a couple of classified employees and a parent.
The committee spent three days screening applications, Schrader said, and it chose five people to interview.
In the meantime, Barnhurst turned in his resignation, Schrader said. He set up a similar process at Oak Heights. The Oak Heights committee selected the same five for interviews but added three more.
Augustadt and Henry were each committee’s first choice, Schrader said. “It made it easy for me.”
They were his choices too, he said.
“From what I know of him (Augustadt), I think he is an elementary principle,” Schrader said. “He’s a kid-first person.”
He has run the school’s PBIS program and helped create a climate of togetherness, Schrader said, and he worked with Beck for four years on the school’s programs.
Schrader’s question was whether Augustadt could have the hard conversations with a teacher if needed, he said. “Time will tell, but I think he can. But, to me, education is all about building relationships, and he can do that.”
Augustadt hasn’t taught math or reading, Schrader said, but “he knows what good teaching looks like.”
He knows when students are engaged and lessons are good, Schrader said.
Henry is an unbelievably creative person, Schrader said, and Oak Heights will be a leader in technology with her. She knows what teaching is all about.
She has been heavily involved in the professional learning communities concept, Schrader said. “She has been a leader at the Junior High for that.”
“She’s going to a great job working with those kids,” Schrader said.
It’s nice to have two new principles from the district, he said, and he noted that among those interviewed were applicants from outside of Sweet Home.
The board voted 6-0 to approve the hires. Present were Chanz Keeney, Dale Keene, Chairman Jason Redick, Mike Reynolds, Jenny Daniels and Kevin Burger. Absent were Mike E. Adams and David VanDerlip.