The Pendleton School District had another successful district-wide art show in spring 2025. The event began with a community opening night, followed by two days of art viewing by students and the public.

Abbey Prevot, Art Teacher at Pendleton High School, coordinates the show with John Bradt, Media/Tech Teacher at Sunridge Middle School. Every student in the district creates a piece of art in their class, and it’s displayed at the show. Pieces included paintings, sculpture, paper mache and more.

Prevot said the setup went smoothly this year; they had seven PHS students who helped, and they were great workers. She appreciates all the district teachers who work with their students to create the art, put name tags on every piece, and adhere them to the large paper displays.

“The art show is one of the only community events where all the schools participate, so it’s a great celebration together,” Prevot said. She said art is the first language we learn; before a child learns how to write, they are drawing. “Art is a natural skill people pick up as kids, so fostering and keeping that creativity alive for students is essential,” she said.

The Pendleton School District thanks the Education Foundation of Pendleton for funding the art show and Altrusa of Pendleton for giving out free books on opening night.

The Pendleton Early Learning Center (PELC) celebrated 10 years of teaching kindergartners on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

In the 2015-2016 school year, the Pendleton School District embarked upon a new, exciting venture by opening the PELC. The new school, created by totally remodeling the old Hawthorne building, houses all the district’s kindergartners in one building.

Several teachers and staff members who worked at the PELC in the first year were at the school to celebrate the 10th anniversary. A group of them chatted in the school’s library, remembering what it was like to start working in the new building in fall 2015, which also marked the first year of all-day kindergarten at PSD.

They said they had to start from ground zero with every procedure, like where to line up, how to take kids to lunch, all the recess rules, everything. They commented that procedures changed a lot in that first year as they adapted to the space and to having 200 five-year-olds in one school.

“Over the next couple of years, we changed things and found better ways to do things,” said Jan Levy, former Kindergarten Teacher.

Some of the teachers who started at the PELC came from elementary schools that had only one kindergarten teacher, so the new school provided opportunities to collaborate with other kindergarten teachers. “One of the best parts about the PELC is that because it’s an all kindergarten school, you have teachers who all teach the same level and their resources so that you can figure things out much quicker,” said Brian Zimmerman, who started teaching the first year and is still teaching at the PELC.

Mireya Wolf, Paraprofessional, was there for the first year and still works there. She said that in the first year, everyone was nervous but also excited about the beautiful, colorful building. She said she loves coming to work at the PELC every day, and her favorite part is seeing the kids.

Lori Curtis, Lead Secretary, has welcomed students and families to the school for 10 years. She remembers the first year was all about working out the kinks of a new school building, and the decade since then has gone by so fast. Curtis loves the concept of the PELC and said, “It’s amazing having all the kindergartners in one location, and it’s fun having Head Start and IMESD preschool here and getting to know those families before the kids become kindergartners.”

Pendleton School District Superintendent Kevin Headings thanked the visionary administrators who established the PELC, which is considered a unique early learning center on the West Coast. “Until today, I didn’t realize how many staff who started here 10 years ago are still here, and that says something about the PELC, its culture, and what you all have created. The district is very proud of this school. Thank you to the PELC staff for doing what you do for the youngest learners in our district, it’s much appreciated,” Headings said.

PELC teachers and staff who started the first year and are still working there are: Donna Bostwick, Lori Curtis, Rachele Johnson, Shawndine Jones, Madelyn Naughton, Tracey Perkes, Mireya Wolf, Shellie Wyss, and Brian Zimmerman.

The Pendleton School District will recommend that the board approve Doug Gunter to be the new assistant principal/athletic director of Sunridge Middle School, effective July 1, 2025.

With the recent announcement that Sunridge will have a vacancy for an assistant principal, the district decided to draw from the strong applicant pool of principal applicants to fill this position for the 2025-2026 school year.

The position of assistant principal/athletic director was offered to Doug Gunter, and he has accepted. Doug was a finalist in our recent SMS principal search, and he comes highly recommended by his colleagues and current supervisor.

Mr. Gunter has been a teacher and executive director at Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School for the past 12 years in the Salem-Keizer School District, and taught at Adam Stephens Middle School before that, also in Salem-Keizer. We’re excited to have him join the SMS team, the Pendleton School District, and the Pendleton Community.

Mr. Gunter will officially take over as assistant principal/athletic director on July 1st. He is replacing Caleb Patterson as he has accepted a position in La Grande.

The Pendleton School District Board of Directors is pleased to announce that a contract for Superintendent of the Pendleton School District has been offered to Dr. Michelle Jensen, of West Linn, Oregon.

Dr. Jensen is currently a Primary School Principal in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District. She has worked in her current position since 2019.  Previously, she worked in the Hermiston School District as a counselor from 2005 to 2014 and Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives from 2014 to 2016; and as a principal in the Hillsboro Oregon School District from 2016 to 2019.

Eleven individuals applied for the position, and the Board interviewed two finalists for the position on March 10. Dr. Jensen will assume the duties of Superintendent beginning July 1, 2025.

Dr. Douglas Nelson and Mrs. Heidi Sipe of McPherson & Jacobson L.L.C. served as consultants in the search process.  Mrs. Sipe will continue working with the Pendleton School District Board of Directors and Dr. Jensen in helping establish performance objectives for her.