Meet Salem-Keizer's new principals, vice principals and administrators
Twenty Salem-Keizer schools will have new leadership when classes resume after Labor Day.
Two high schools, three middle schools and eight elementary schools have new principals. And 13 educators have been named to new assistant principal roles.
New superintendent Andrea Castañeda, who started July 1, also has named two new administrators.
Salem-Keizer Public Schools is the state’s second-largest school district, with 38,720 students and 65 schools.
Here are the district's newest leaders:
Administration
Erik Jespersen will serve as the district’s K-12 director of curriculum and instruction.
Jespersen has been principal at McNary High School for the past nine years.
He has been in education for 25 years, serving for 10 years as a social studies teacher at Sandy High School and McNary. During that time, he also coached basketball and was an advisor for multiple clubs including FBLA, Youth Legislature, and Close-up.
After leaving the classroom, Jespersen spent two years as an instructional coach at McNary, Sprague and South Salem High Schools. In 2010, he was hired as assistant principal at McKay, spending four years supervising the science and special education departments as well as the behavioral office.
Gwen Bruey-Fink will serve as the district’s human resources director of strategic initiatives. She has been director of secondary curriculum and instruction for the past five years.
Bruey-Fink will replace Steve Nelson, who is retiring. She has been with the district for 18 years and has served as a high school teacher, instructional mentor, middle school administrator and as a curriculum and instruction administrator.
Early College High School and Roberts High School
Artonya Gemmill will be an assistant principal at Early College and Roberts. She previously was co-principal of the EDGE program.
Gemmill joined the district in 2007 as a high school special education teacher. Starting in 2008, she served as an assistant principal at West Salem and South Salem high schools. In 2013, Gemmill became principal of Brush College Elementary School and then principal at Clear Lake Elementary School.
McNary High School
Scott Gragg will be principal at McNary, where he has been assistant principal and athletic director for the past seven years. He replaces Erik Jespersen, who is moving into administration.
After retiring from an 11-year career in the NFL, Gragg returned to education and the Willamette Valley as a math teacher, instructional coach and head football coach at his alma mater, Silverton High School. Before coming to McNary, Gragg served as a grades 7-12 principal in rural Fort Benton, Montana.
North Salem High School
Dustin Purnell will be principal at North Salem. He has been the principal at Parrish Middle School for the past eight years.
Purnell began his career in Salem-Keizer in 2005, teaching business at Sprague High School. He then served as an assistant principal/athletic director in Grants Pass before becoming an assistant principal at South Salem High School.
Derick Handley will be an assistant principal at North Salem. He has been an instructional mentor at McKay High School for the past five years.
He is a graduate of Salem-Keizer schools and has been teaching in the district since 2009. During his nine years as a classroom teacher, Handley taught AVID, ELD, English and social studies while working at McKay and McNary high schools. He has coached tennis, golf, baseball and girls' basketball while also serving as an activities director at the high school level.
Mark Harris will be an assistant principal at North Salem, He previously was an assistant principal at Sprague High School.
Harris has worked at the district since 2010. He was a teacher at Sprague for seven years, an instructional mentor at McKay for two years, and then returned to Sprague as a behavior specialist before beginning as an administrator in 2018.
South Salem High School
Nicole Hendricks will be an assistant principal at South Salem. She most recently was an assistant principal in the Corvallis School District.
Hendricks has been an educator for 28 years, serving as a special education instructional assistant, teacher, TOSA and, for the past eight years, as an administrator in both Southern California and Oregon.
Sprague High School
Tyler Lalack will be an assistant principal at Sprague. He currently is an assistant principal at West Salem High School.
Lalack has worked in education for 20 years, serving students in various capacities including mentoring, coaching, teaching and innovative learning strategies.
Clinton Gertenrich will be an assistant principal at Sprague. He previously was Sprague’s athletic director.
Jim Miller will be Sprague’s athletic director. He previously was an assistant principal at Sprague.
West Salem High School
Michael Simental will be an assistant principal at West Salem. He previously was an assistant principal at North Salem High School.
Simental has worked in education for 18 years, starting in California before coming to the district eight years ago. He has worked at North Salem as an ELA teacher, instructional mentor, IB coordinator and curriculum assistant principal.
Claggett Creek Middle School
Robin Buckingham will be principal of Claggett Creek. She previously was an assistant principal at South Salem High School.
Buckingham has worked for the district since 2008, starting as a teacher at Leslie Middle School. She also has served as an instructional mentor and a middle school assistant principal.
Crossler Middle School
Jen Williams will be principal of Crossler. She has been the school’s assistant principal for the past three years.
Williams joined the district in 2003 as a teacher at Leslie Middle School, then became an instructional mentor at Parrish Middle School.
Lynn Barry will be an assistant principal at Crossler. She previously was a support specialist in the Canby School District. Barry has worked in education for 24 years.
Houck Middle School
Craig King will be an assistant principal at Houck. He has been assistant principal at Judson Middle School for the past four years.
King taught science at Early College High School and the teen parent program for six years, then moved to McKay High School where he was a science teacher, coordinator of summer school programs and an instructional coach and behavior specialist.
Shirley Richardson will be an assistant principal at Houck. She has been assistant principal at Waldo Middle School since 2020.
Richardson joined the district in 2001 as a physical education teacher at Claggett Creek Middle School.
Judson Middle School
Brian Storrs will be assistant principal at Judson. He was assistant principal at Houck Middle School for the past three years.
Storrs started his career in 2007 as a teacher at North Salem High School. He then piloted a dual-language program in Hillsboro and was principal of a K-8 charter school in Utah.
Parrish Middle School
Christi Cheever will be principal of Parrish. She previously was the school’s assistant principal. Cheever replaces Dustin Purnell, who will be principal at North Salem High School.
Cheever is a Salem-Keizer graduate who started her career as a bilingual teacher at Kennedy Elementary School. She has taught multiple grade levels, worked as an instructional mentor and been the principal of Highland Elementary School.
Tracy Carbajal will be assistant principal at Parrish. She previously was an instructional mentor and a math, AVID and CTE teacher at the school.
Carbajal has been an educator since 2006 and has 14 years of experience at Parrish.
Waldo Middle School
Stacie Creighton will be assistant principal at Waldo. She previously was an assistant principal at North Salem High School.
Creighton has been an educator for 20 years. She was at North Salem for 16 years, working as an administrator, instructional coach, behavior specialist, AVID coordinator and math teacher.
Auburn Elementary School
Amanda Johnson will be principal of Auburn. She previously was assistant principal at the school.
Johnson has been an educator for 20 years, working as an instructional assistant, bilingual teacher and district instructional mentor.
Battle Creek Elementary School
Janet Pratts will be principal at Battle Creek. She was the principal at Sumpter Elementary School for the past 15 years.
Pratts has been an educator for 20 years, with pre-kindergarten to eighth grade teaching experience.
Eyre Elementary School
Katie Shumway will be principal at Eyre. She has been the principal at Auburn Elementary for the past six years.
Shumway joined the district in 2015 as principal of McKinley Elementary. Before that, she taught grades 1-4 for 11 years, primarily in the Dallas School District.
Grant Elementary School
Stephanie Russell will be principal at Grant. She previously was principal at Myers Elementary.
Russell has been with the district since 2007, starting as a bilingual teacher at Weddle Elementary. She has been an instructional coach, assistant principal and principal at several schools.
Hammond Elementary School
Corina Valencia-Cushman will be principal of Hammond. She previously was principal at Eyre Elementary.
She has worked at the district since 2020, starting as a dual-language teacher at Grant Elementary. Since then she has been an instructional coach, English language acquisition specialist and principal of two elementary schools.
Lamb Elementary School
Taylor Cooper will be principal of Lamb Elementary. She previously was the school’s assistant principal.
Cooper has held various roles at the district, including classroom teacher, district mentor, integrated studies program associate and assistant principal at Mary Eyre Elementary School.
Myers Elementary School
Mandy Pack will be principal at Myers. She previously was assistant principal at Swegle Elementary.
Pack has been an educator for 23 years, working as a classroom teacher, instructional mentor and behavior specialist.
Sumpter Elementary School
Marc Morris will be principal at Sumpter. He previously was principal at Grant Elementary.
Morris has been an educator for 27 years, serving as an elementary school principal for 18 of those.
Tracy Loew covers the environment at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem-Keizer Public Schools shuffles leaders
