Return to Headlines

Hillsboro School District Rounds out Administrative Announcements for 2022-23

Friday, July 1, 2022 - Superintendent Scott recently announced the following administrative changes for the 2022-23 school year:

Julie Kasper, Principal, Century High School. Julie Kasper has been named the new principal of Century High School, following the retirement of current principal, Martha Guise. Prior to becoming an assistant principal in 2018, Kasper had served as the Century’s activities director since 1999, helping students earn the highest recognition possible through the Oregon Association of Student Councils and National Student Council for nineteen of those years. Before that, she taught English and Leadership courses. She has a strong commitment to Century’s equity work and has fostered growth in the areas of dual credit, career pathway and CTE course expansion. When Guise was out on medical leave for several months in the 2020-21 school year, Kasper served in a key role supporting the school. Through that experience and in countless other ways, Kasper has proven her strong leadership ability, communication skills, and dedication to the Century community.
Rian Petrick, Director, Extracurricular Activities and Athletics. Petrick has worn a lot of hats in HSD - first as a student at Eastwood and Peter Boscow Elementary Schools, Evergreen Middle School, and Glencoe High School - then as a teacher and coach at Century and Glencoe High Schools, and dean of students at Glencoe. He became an administrator in 2007 when he accepted the job as assistant principal of Evergreen Middle School, and was later named Evergreen’s principal in 2010. After six years as principal, Petrick transitioned to a newly-created position of director of extracurricular activities and community outreach. The job was intended to oversee athletics and activities in the District and to explore opportunities for securing large community sponsorships. Budget reductions in 2020 necessitated the temporary suspension of that position and Petrick’s move to Farmington View to serve as its principal. However, thanks to the newly-formed Petrick Family Foundation, which intends to support after-school access to athletics and activities for traditionally underserved youth at the elementary and middle school levels in HSD, Petrick is able to return to the position of director of extracurricular activities and athletics so he can oversee the programming and dispensation of funds. He will also support high school activities and athletics at the district level.
Jen McCalley, Principal, Farmington View Elementary School. McCalley will be moving to Farmington View as its new principal, subsequent to Petrick’s departure. McCalley began her educational career in 1996 as an elementary school teacher at Chief Joseph and Ainsworth Elementary Schools in PPS. In 2011-12, she served as a principal intern at both Chief Joseph and Faubion Pre-K through 8, before becoming the assistant principal of Faubion in 2012. Four years later, she was named principal of Faubion. There, she launched an early childhood program, a “3 to PhD” initiative, a parent advisory group, and student affinity groups such as a Black Student Union. She also actively sought grants and partnered with higher education institutions to enhance programming and support for her students and school. She joined the Hillsboro School District as principal of Imlay in 2018 and has served in that capacity ever since.
Debbie Alvarado, Assistant Principal, Witch Hazel Elementary School. Significant enrollment growth at Witch Hazel necessitates the addition of an assistant principal position to support Principal Christy Walters. Alvarado, current Lincoln Street Elementary School assistant principal, has been selected for the role. Alvarado was a resource specialist, special education teacher, and case manager at Lincoln Street from 2010 to 2016. She then moved to Poynter where she taught Math and served as the coordinator for both AVID and special education. In 2019, she transitioned to the dean of students position at Witch Hazel Elementary School, and then moved to Evergreen Middle School in 2020 as its dean of students. In 2021, she assumed her position at Lincoln Street. In both her dean and assistant principal roles, Alvarado has and continues to support student success with choice making and problem solving; communicating regularly with students, families, and staff; supporting instruction and instructional practices; and collaborating as part of the administrative team. She is bilingual and biliterate in English and Spanish and routinely facilitates meetings with Spanish-speaking families. Lincoln Street will have a non-administrative dean position assisting Principal Brodniak in 2022-23.
Arcema Tovar, Director, Multilingual Programs. In the 2015 Oregon Legislative Session, lawmakers passed House Bill 3499, which directs ODE to develop and implement a statewide plan for English language learners in our K-12 system. Over the course of the next four years, ODE will be allocating grant funds to districts in specific support of this bill. By June of 2025, HSD has an overarching goal of reducing the achievement gap between English Learners and All Students by half as compared to 2020-21 data. One of the ways the District intends to do that is by reinstating a previous position - now identified as Director of Multilingual Programs.

Tovar began her career teaching English language development in Lancaster, California in 1999. After seven years there, she moved to Oregon and was a 3rd grade Spanish immersion teacher at Vose Elementary in Beaverton. In 2009, she took a job as an ESL teacher at Minter Bridge Elementary School. Two years later, she transitioned to the role of bilingual instructional coach for the school, and two years after that she was hired as the District’s coordinator of elementary teaching & learning and PK-12 Dual Language program. The coordinator position was reclassified as a director role in 2020, meaning Tovar has been leading the elementary curriculum & instruction and Dual Language work for the past several years. She has been instrumental in developing and implementing standards-based pacing guides and assessments for all elementary schools, and in the planful expansion of HSD’s Dual Language program.
Katy Shelton, Assistant Principal, Liberty High School. Shelton will be taking over for Celia Murray, who retired on June 30, 2022. Since 2007, Shelton has been a teacher and instructional coach at Liberty High School; her subjects include Social Studies, AVID, Academic Options, and Spanish. She has served as Liberty’s summer school administrator and lead teacher for the past three years, and was a member of last year’s Secondary Summer School SuperGroup. She has led professional development sessions on AVID strategies and grading for equity, and has developed school improvement plans to close the achievement gap and enhance school culture.
Chelsea Pollick, Director, Student Services. Subsequent to Sarah Crane’s selection as the new executive director of elementary and middle schools, Pollick has been chosen for the director position in Student Services. Pollick is currently serving as an instructional coach and behavior specialist in the Redmond School District. In this position, she takes an active role on the leadership team for the district’s StepUP alternative education campus - assisting with all building-level processes and procedures including student eligibility and enrollment, staffing, scheduling, and budget. Prior to that, she worked as a special education teacher both at the district level and at Ridgeview High School where she developed a comprehensive guide to implementing Universal Design for Learning and trained teams of cross-functional staff on its use in classrooms. She also evaluated and analyzed curriculum products, and led multi-disciplinary teams in designing effective, individualized student programs using high-leverage practices.
Gina McLain, Director, Elementary Teaching and Learning. Following Arcema Tovar’s selection as the director of multilingual programs, Gina McLain was chosen as the new director of elementary teaching and learning. McLain spent the first eight years of her educational career teaching first and second grade at Mooberry Elementary School. She then spent seven years as Mooberry’s instructional coach before moving to the District Office to become an elementary literacy teacher on special assignment (TOSA). In the summer of 2016, McLain was named principal of Lenox Elementary School, and this past year she has served as the principal of Butternut Creek Elementary School. Throughout her six years as an elementary principal, McLain has led and promoted educational equity, identified school improvement goals and implemented action plans to attain them, planned and delivered professional development, and led various school committees.
Amanda Bethune, Principal, Butternut Creek Elementary School. Amanda Bethune will take over as principal of Butternut Creek, following Gina McLain’s transition to her new position as director of elementary teaching and learning. Bethune began her educational career in 2007 as an elementary teacher in the Evergreen School District in Vancouver, Washington. Seven years later, she took a job at Ladd Acres Elementary School, and five years after that transitioned to North Plains Elementary School. After two years teaching 4th grade at North Plains, she took a job as the Career and College Pathways TOSA at the District Office, designing K-6 career kits and a vision for the implementation of the program in elementary schools. A member of the District’s Future Leaders program, Bethune has served as a principal substitute at a number of schools, including a two-month placement at Imlay Elementary School earlier this year. She serves on the District’s English language arts leadership team, plans and facilitates professional development, and also serves as a cooperating teacher for Portland State University students.
Juliet Hong, Principal, West Union Elementary School. West Union Principal John Allen announced his intention to accept a principal position in the Forest Grove School District in late May. Juliet Hong, currently serving as an academic coach at Cooper Mountain Elementary School in the Beaverton School District, has been selected for the job. Hong began her educational career as a middle school Humanities teacher in 2007, then spent four years as 5th grade classroom teacher before returning to the middle school level in 2013. In 2017, she took a position at Raleigh Hills K-8 as a student success coach, where she delivered professional development on trauma-informed and restorative practices, collaborative problem solving, emotional regulation, and self-care. She accepted her current role in 2020, which has included serving as the on-call administrator, as needed. She also leads the school’s Asian American and Pacific Islander parent affinity group and student BIPOC group, providing education, discussion, and resources centered on equity work. In addition, Hong is a member of the Beaverton School District’s equity team.

Administrative announcements made earlier this spring include:

###