Following Bainbridge High Principal Jake Haley accepting a principal position at Costa Mesa High School in California, Bainbridge Island School District named Mary Alice O’Neill as the school’s interim principal for the 2014-15 school year. She will start July 1.
O’Neill was the associate principal at BHS from 1999 to 2001 and Woodward Middle’s principal from 2001 to 2009. She currently works as a teacher on special assignment.
“I’m excited to fill this important role,” O’Neill said in a news release. “I believe we have one of the finest high schools in the state. I’m looking forward to working with the amazing students, the talented and caring staff, as well as the supportive parent community.”
O’Neill has worked as an educator for more than 30 years in Kitsap County, California and Kuwait. She holds a bachelor of arts and masters of education from the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
“We’re thrilled to have Mary Alice rejoin the district in this critical role,” Superintendent Faith Chapel said. “She is a skilled and experienced principal and understands the needs of our district.”
Haley will work through the end of the school year before starting his new job in California July 1.
Last month, Amii Pratt was named the new associate principal at Sakai Intermediate School. The half-time administrative position – which was cut in 2011 – is being reinstated as a result of the district’s increased enrollment and changes in administrative roles and responsibilities. She’ll start her new job July 1.
“Amii has excelled in a number of instructional and leadership roles in the district, and she is highly regarded by those who have worked with her,” Chapel said.
Pratt brings 11 years of educational experience to this new position. She taught first and second grades at Wilkes and Ordway Elementary Schools and second grade at Ogden Elementary in Vancouver, Wash. She also served as a K-5 English Language Learner coordinator in Vancouver for two years.
Currently, Pratt is a K-5 English language arts teacher on special assignment and is a principal intern at Blakely Elementary. She has designed and led professional development sessions and co-facilitated the Teacher Evaluation Committee for the Bainbridge Island School District.
She graduated in 2001 from Oregon State University with a bachelor’s degree in science and a year later earned a master’s degree in teaching from OSU. In 2008, she achieved her National Board Certification, a rigorous and advanced teaching credential. This year, she received her Initial Principal and Program Administrator Certificate from the University of Washington’s Danforth Educational Leadership Program.
Amii Pratt recently was named the new associate principal at Sakai Intermediate School.
