New faces will greet students, staff

Matt Chisholm Progress Elementary

When 270 students return to Progress Elementary next week they will be met by a gentle giant. Their new principal Matt Chisholm is 6 feet 6 inches tall.

This is Chisholm’s first job as a school principal but the 32-year-old brings a lot of experience to this new position.

Chisholm comes to the Central Valley school district after several years with Spokane Public Schools, where he served as an assistant principal at both Glover and Salk middle schools.

Prior to that, he was a principal assistant at Roosevelt and Holmes elementary schools.

Chisholm said he’s glad to get back to his elementary school roots where he began his teaching career. Fifth-grade was his favorite grade to teach.

Moving from one district to another means getting acquainted with new procedures and protocols and learning who to go to for different things. The CV district elementary schools are K-5; Spokane Public Schools are K-6. But Chisholm says that when it comes to working with kids and instruction, these important things are the same.

“I’m coming in as an observer. I’m here to listen and I want to honor the staff and not come in and change everything. It’s a collaborative effort,” said Chisholm. “There’s a school improvement plan in place, but we have the opportunity to tweak it if we need to. It’s a work in progress, assessing as you go and making new plans if you need to.”

Chisholm is spending the quiet time before school starts meeting with staff and faculty, and going over files so he can make informed decisions. “Once the kids get back, everything gets taken up a notch,” said Chisholm.

Chisholm graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1992. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University and his master’s degree from Eastern Washington University.

In his free time he enjoys outdoor activities and Cougar football. He and his wife, Katie, who teaches at Willard Elementary, have a 17-month-old daughter.

Cindy Sothen Chester Elementary

Chester Elementary’s new principal, Cindy Sothen, has her office decorated and ready to go. The colorful, inviting décor will welcome the school’s 320 students, staff and parents back for a new school year.

Sothen chatted with two little girls last week as they waited for their mom to fill out paperwork at the school. They talked about the girls’ new house, their grandparents and dogs – the girls were taking advantage of Sothen’s open-door policy.

“Chester is known as a high achieving school with lots of family and community involvement. They have tremendous parent support here,” said Sothen.

Sothen said she likes to call parents and talk to them if their child is having, for example, a playground issue, or work isn’t getting done.

“It goes the other way, too. I’ll call home when they do something good, even if it’s a five minute respite. I’ll leave the message on the phone so they can play it over and over again,” said Sothen.

Sothen describes herself as a Valley girl. She graduated from Central Valley and married her high-school sweetheart, Tim. Her son is a senior at University High School and her dad, George Orr, is a former Central Valley school board member.

Sothen, 43, got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Washington University and began her teaching career at University Elementary in 1998.

She also taught at Adams Elementary and was a literacy facilitator. She worked as the district’s math staff developer while serving as assistant principal at Horizon Middle School.

Sothen said that principals are now “instructional leaders” and while she has some ideas she’d like to try out, she wants to work as a team and listen to the staff. “They are the ones in the trenches.”

Joanne Comer CV Kindergarten Center

Joanne Comer will be the administrator for the inaugural year of the Central Valley Kindergarten Center at Barker and Mission.

Because of overcrowding in the east end of the school district, kindergarteners from Liberty Lake and Greenacres will attend kindergarten at the center, freeing up three classrooms at each school.

Comer has been appointed building administrator. She will oversee the staff and 208 students in three all-day kindergarten classes, four morning session and three afternoon session classes.

Developing a new school and undergoing a remodeling project as the Barker Center becomes a kindergarten center is a challenge, but Comer is focused on who is in the building.

“It’s the people in the school. The staff have a heart for kindergarten-age children and we want to help them be successful their first year at school,” said Comer.

Comer began her career as a volunteer and then as an aide at Progress Elementary. Her husband and co-workers encouraged her to go back to school and get her teaching certificate. She received her bachelor’s degree at Eastern Washington University and her master’s degree from Lesley College.

She was at Keystone Elementary for 12 years, where she taught a first- and second-grade combo class, and served as a site director for the after-school program.

Most recently, Comer was the principal designee at McDonald Elementary and a Title 1 reading specialist.

Comer, 51, graduated from Rogers High School. She has lived in the Valley for 30 years and her three adult children all attended schools in the CV district.

When her husband, Tim, talked about retiring she convinced him to work for the district’s transportation department instead.

One of their daughters was born with Down syndrome and this has brought them to the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department, where they volunteer. They provide therapeutic recreation for people who are developmentally disabled.