New principal hired for Eatonville High

By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch John Colgan, who is an assistant principal at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma and has worked in locales as varied as Taiwan and eastern Washington, has been named principal of Eatonville High School. Colgan will replace Ashley Barker, who will resign at the end of the current school year to devote more attention to her family. The appointment was approved April 23 by the Eatonville School Board during a board meeting that Colgan and his wife, Jennie, attended. Colgan was selected after a process in which the top two candidates for the position underwent a second round of interviews April 16. Parents, students and the faculty and staff were given separate opportunities as groups to meet each candidate. Eatonville School District superintendent Krestin Bahr said Colgan exhibited during the interview process that he "is a good listener, practices an open door policy and is someone you can trust.GÇ¥ Bahr also said he is "sensitive to the new graduation requirements, as well as the evaluation process for teachers,GÇ¥ and that he supports students in their school experience and "preparing them for life after high school.GÇ¥ Colgan, who received bachelor and masters degrees from Washington State University, has more than 17 years of experience as an educator. His first year of teaching was spent in Kaoshiung, Taiwan.He later taught social studies at Prosser High School, where he also was a club advisor and coached football, tennis and golf for the eastern Washington school. He has spent the past eight years as an assistant principal in the Tacoma Public Schools system, which is where Bahr also was an administrator before becoming Eatonville's superintendent last year. Colgan and his wife have two young children. The lives in Orting and plans to move closer to Eatonville.

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