Centennial principal going to Wellpinit

The principal at Centennial Middle School will step down at the end of this school year to take a position as the superintendent of a small school district in Stevens County.

Tim Ames signed a three-year contract with the Wellpinit School District, located about 50 miles north of Spokane.

Ames, 44, has been the principal at Centennial for only a year.

“It was a hard decision for me. I had a planned to be here (at Centennial) for five years, at least,” Ames said.

Ames received his superintendent credentials from Washington State University last year and was told about the job opening in Wellpinit.

“It was the only job I applied for,” Ames said. “It’s a great place to start out; it feels like a good move.”

Wellpinit has 568 students and a budget of $6.9 million. It is located on the reservation of the Spokane Tribe, and 97 percent of the student population is Native American.

Ames was the principal at Pasadena Park Elementary School for six years before moving to Centennial at the start of this year.

Before coming to the West Valley School District, he was a teacher at Brentwood Elementary School in the Mead School District for 14 years.

“I love leadership, and I look forward to the opportunity to go up to Wellpinit and build some relationships with people,” Ames said. “They have a lot of good things in place. It feels like it will be a place that I can be successful early in my superintendent career.”