La Grande School District
www.lagrandesd.org Volume 3, Issue 3 • September 2019
La Grande Pride
Love, Care, Serve
La Grande High School, La Grande Middle School,
Central Elementary, Greenwood Elementary, Island City Elementary
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Board Meetings:
September 11, 2019
October 9, 2019
November 20, 2019
All are on Wednesdays at
7:00 p.m., District Offi ce
Conference room
La Grande Middle School
School Pictures are scheduled for
Thursday, September 12th. Retakes
will be Friday, October 18th. Picture
packets will be available in the
school offi ce and students will be
given a packet in advisory.
Greenwood Elementary
Picture/Screening Day
Sept. 3rd, all school day
Central Elementary
Open House - September 10
5-5:30 Kindergarten/1st grade
5:35-6:05 2nd/3rd grade
6:10-6:40 4th/5th grade
6:40-7:00 wrap up in the
resource fair
Pictures - Sept. 18
Hearing screening - Sept. 19
Vision screening - Sept. 26
Island City Elementary
Sept 13 - Vision Screenings
Sept 17 - Co-ed Volleyball begins
(4th & 5th grades)
Sept 17 - Fiddle Club Parent Meet-
ing 6:00-8:00
Sept 25-27 - Dental Screenings
and Sealants
Sept 27 - PICTURE DAY
WELCOME NEW ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Monica West serves Central and Middle School
By Trish Yerges
“During the last seven
years, I was a principal
The La Grande School
of an elementary school
District welcomes Monica
and prior to that I was an
West as the new assistant
assistant principal at our
principal at Central El-
middle school. Before
ementary and LG Middle
that I was the K-12 math
School this year.
instructional specialist
She and her husband,
for the district and I also
George, relocated to Union
taught middle school and
West
County from the Olympia,
high school math and sci-
Washington school district
ence.”
in July, and she started her new posi-
Like many high school students,
tion with the LGSD in early August.
West said she was inspired by one of
She comes to the district with solid
her own teachers, who interested her
teaching and administration creden-
in public education. “I had a really
tials and 25 years in public educa-
great high school biology teacher
tion.
who got me excited about biology and
“I went to the college of Idaho and
teaching, so that’s how I got started,”
got a bachelor of science and biology
she said.
degree, then I moved to Washington
The Wests are parents of two
State where I got my teaching en-
children who are currently attending
dorsement,” she said. “Then I went
school at Oregon State, Corvallis.
to the University of Portland and got
“Our son is a mechanical engineer
a masters of educational leadership,
and our daughter is a fi nance and
followed by Seattle Pacifi c University, business major,” she said.
where I got my administrative cre-
West is a graduate of Ontario
dentials in 2003.”
High School and always liked East-
She has spent 25 years in the
ern Oregon, so returning to a drier
Olympia Washington district that has geographic area was very appealing
to her. “I just wanted to be back in
a student population of 10,000.
Eastern Oregon. I saw the job and
was just excited for the opportunity,”
she said.
For the past three years, she said
she had been in construction proj-
ects in her building in Olympia, and
she was looking for something a
little different. When she saw the
opening for a half-time elementary/
middle school assistant principal, she
thought she would apply.
“I’ll have about 1,000 kids and over
100 staff members in both buildings,”
West said. “It will be fun.”
Compared to her last post in the
Olympia Washington district, West
said she will defi nitely have a greater
student population here to care for,
and two buildings instead of the one
in Olympia. Overall, it is a step-up
in responsibility, but she is looking
forward to it.
“For right now, I will spend morn-
ings at Central and afternoons at the
Middle School,” she said. “I’m excited
to be on board and to get to meet all
the families and students and see
what I can do to help them be suc-
cessful in whatever way that means
for each family and student.”
The word on Enrollment... enrollment numbers as of September 4, 2019
Central Elementary
471 students
Greenwood Elementary
295 students
Island City Elementary
295 students
Middle School
574 students
High School
703 students
Total Elementary
Enrollment 1,072 students
LGSD Total Enrollment
2,369 students