Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA  98002

2/5/07

NEWS RELEASE
Olympic Middle School Principal Named South King County Region
Principal of the Year

Paul Douglas, principal at Olympic Middle School in the Auburn School District, has been named the South King County Region Principal of the Year for 2006-07.

Mr. Douglas has been the principal at Olympic Middle School since July 2002. Prior to coming to Olympic, he was the assistant principal at Ferucci Junior High in the Puyallup School District for three years.

Mr. Douglas was nominated by his district colleagues, Ben Talbert, principal of Rainier Middle School, Dennis Grad, principal of Cascade Middle School, and Louanne Decker, principal of Mt. Baker Middle School, based on his inspirational leadership, his servant-leader attitude, and his fierce and unyielding determination to pursue excellence. Mr. Douglas prioritizes instructional leadership above all, and he makes a continual study of curriculum and instruction as part of his leadership platform. He has for several years studied effective practices in reading, and this year serves as the only principal on OSPI’s Literacy Cadre. Mr. Douglas provided critical leadership as the Auburn School District’s middle schools worked to implement the K-12 reading model throughout the district. For two years Mr. Douglas and his assistant principal have co-taught a reading class to struggling readers.

The student body at Olympic is made up of a challenging demographic of high poverty and a diverse population. Because of Mr. Douglas’s leadership, his students continue to close in on the achievement gap. Mr. Douglas embraces the role of change agent in taking tough stands on overwhelming problems, in every instance advocating for his students. Examples include the Olympic Leadership Academy he developed as an after-school intervention. It builds math proficiency in the Latino and Native American students, and it requires all staff to take a mentoring role with the students at greatest risk in the school. Most recently Mr. Douglas led a community forum on gang awareness and graffiti prevention in the city of Auburn. He is presently building a coalition with local law enforcement, city officials and community members to tackle the emerging gang problems in the community.

At the local level, Mr. Douglas serves on district curriculum committees every year including the K-12 Reading Adoption and the K-12 math adoption. He serves on the district 874 committee, which works to build stronger connections with the Muckleshoot tribe in the area; he serves on the district In-service Advisory Committee; and he represents middle level administrators on the principal’s bargaining team. Mr. Douglas takes an active leadership role at the regional level with the Association of Washington Middle Level Principals and on OSPI’s Literacy Cadre. He is also an active member in a local chapter of Kiwanis, and he is a soccer coach with the YMCA.

One of the traits valued most about Mr. Douglas is his commitment to excellence and the voice he lends to the issues of the day. He challenges the status quo in setting high expectations for his staff and students, and he is fearless in questioning the expectations set forth in district decision making. He takes on issues without fear and has subsequently earned the respect and admiration of colleagues and supervisors alike.

For more information contact Amy Spence, public information officer, at (253) 931-4713.