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137th Year, No. 55
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
WALLOWA.COM
WALLOWA SCHOOL DISTRICT REACCREDITATION
Valerie
Elliott
Enterprise
Long-timer
says fuel price
restricts travel
ENTERPRISE — Valerie Elliott is a
long-time Wallowa County resident
who has lived in Enterprise since
2012 after moving from Wallowa.
“But our family is fi fth-genera-
tion” in the county, she said.
Her husband, Nathan, works at
Wallowa Memorial Hospital and she
is a stay-at-home mom who works
for the county Emergency Medi-
cal Services part time and manages
storage units in Enterprise.
She recently shared her thoughts
about living in Wallowa County.
What’s your favorite thing
about Wallowa County?
I love the people. I know a lot of
people. I love our mountains and
nature and I like being able to just
drive away for a few minutes and be
able to get out and enjoy nature.
What are you looking
forward to once the weather
warms?
Get out in the mountains. Also,
I homeschool the kids so when the
weather’s nicer, we’ll get out to the
parks more.
What do you think of Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine?
It’s heartbreaking. I don’t like to
see people going through that and
their loss of innocence over that.
Wallowa High School history
teacher Cody Lathrop talks to his
class Monday, April 25, 2022. The
Wallowa School District’s score
was 362 on a scale of 100-400 in a
recent accreditation by Cognia.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa scores high
District scores more than 75 points above fi ve-year average
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
W
ALLOWA — The Wallowa
School District is earning close
to straight As.
The district’s reaccreditation
review was done in March, and the evaluation
from Cognia rated the district at the top level —
“impacting” — in 25 of the 30 categories the
group reviewed. The other fi ve categories were
scored at “improving,” the second-highest level
possible.
Overall, Wallowa’s “Index of Education
Quality” was 362 on a scale of 100-400. In its
report to the school, Cognia said the fi ve-year
average of schools in the Cognia Improvement
Network ranges from 278.34-283.33, putting
Wallowa between 75-80 points above average.
Cognia, an organization that accredits
schools across the nation, looked overall at three
main sections, and within that, 30 subsections
in its evaluation of the district. In the fi rst sec-
tion, Leadership Capacity Standards, Wallowa
was rated as “impacting” in nine of 10 scored
subsections. In Learning Capacity Standards,
the school was “impacting” in 10 of 12 subsec-
tions. And in Resource Capacity Standards, the
school was “impacting” in six of eight subsec-
tions. The school, in fact, had more subsections
(eight) with a perfect score — 4 on a scale of
1-4 — than it did subsections with an “improv-
ing” rating.
“Wallowa High School is committed to pro-
viding a quality educational experience for its
students,” the report from Cognia stated. “Evi-
dent through the review was the commitment of
school leaders, teachers, students and parents to
participate in a learning community where all
students engage in a rigorous, supportive and
well-rounded education that prepares them for
their futures.”
The evaluator praised school leaders and staff
for their “commitment to continuous improve-
ment processes relative to eff ective instructional
practices and student learning goals” and said
the school “promote(s) a culture to ensure stu-
dents develop positive relationships with adults
who support their educational experiences.”
Conversely, the school needs to form a pro-
cess to collect and analyze feedback for deci-
sion-making and needs to monitor the policies
See Score, Page A5
What do you attribute the
increasing cost of fuel to?
I believe a lot of it is who we
elected president and not being
able to use our local pipelines. I think
we could be more independent of
other countries if we just used our
local resources.
How is the high price of fuel
aff ecting you directly?
I don’t go out of town as much. I
used to go to La Grande about once
a month and I’m starting to re-look
at my books and consider not doing
that as much. I don’t travel around
the county as much.
What’s your advice for
people who are thinking
about moving here?
Get involved in the community
right away, whether that’s through
a job or a church. Just be involved.
That’s what I would recommend.
— Bill Bradshaw,
Wallowa County Chieftain
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Megan Hunter, the new principal at the Enterprise Junior/Senior High
School, walks out from the entrance to the school Friday, April 22, 2022.
Hunter begins her new job July 1.
New EHS principal
has varied experience
Megan Hunter takes
over for Carlsen July 1
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Enterprise
Junior/Senior High School is get-
ting a new principal with widely
varied experience as Megan
Hunter prepares to take up the
reins July 1.
Hunter, who will replace long-
time Principal Blake Carlsen, is
coming here most recently from
Burns, where she’s worked for the
Harney County School District.
Northwest native
Having grown up in Western
Washington, her contacts with
Northeast Oregon came early.
She attended a basketball camp at
Eastern Oregon University in La
Grande, which introduced her par-
ents to the area. When she went off
to college, they moved to Union
County between Elgin and Minam.
“My mom and dad came back
and fell in love with the area,”
she said during an interview Fri-
day, April 22. “They settled on
300-and-something acres and they
run cows.”
Her parents living so close was
one thing that attracted Hunter to
the area.
“My family is about 45 minutes
away from here,” she said. “They
live about halfway between Elgin
and Minam, up in the woods.”
Hunter said her work as an edu-
cator started while she lived in
See Enterprise, Page A5
Wallowa Junior/Senior High School’s new Principal Sara Hayes sits in
her offi ce Monday, April 25, 2022.
Hoping to tell the stories
of the Wallowa students
Wallowa School
Board selects Sara
Hayes as principal
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — Sara Hayes
was interviewed by Wallowa
students during the process of
being ultimately named Wal-
lowa junior high and high school
principal.
That experience, she said,
helped shape her view of the
role she will be offi cially step-
ping into July 1.
“In that, I really took away
or walked away feeling like we
need to tell their stories, to show
their greatness,” Hayes said.
“I think Wallowa doesn’t get
as much limelight or attention
as the other two (county high
schools, Joseph and Enterprise).
What I walked away with is how
great these kids are, but (they
need) help (and) support to show
their greatness.”
The Wallowa School Board
named Hayes as their selection
as the next principal April 14.
She has been operating in tan-
dem with Rollie Marshall as the
interim principal, spending a day
a week in the role.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for
Hayes, who began in education
with Wallowa Head Start, and
said she had “been in the ear-
ly-childhood fi eld I think eight
(to) 10 years.” She said in that
time she saw importance in the
intersection of family, commu-
nity and education.
Hayes went on to earn her
master’s degree in elemen-
tary education, according to a
press release from the school
See Wallowa, Page A5