SNOQUALMIE VALLEY – The Snoqualmie Valley School District hired three new principals last week to take the reins at Mount Si High School, North Bend Elementary and Cascade View Elementary next fall.

Randy Taylor, 54, will be Mount Si’s new principal, succeeding Dave Humphrey, who is retiring. Taylor was principal at Auburn Senior High School from 1999 to 2004. He was going to seek a principal position in a warmer climate last year when he found out his daughter was going to have his first grandchild and his son was about to get married. Taylor and his wife Bev decided to stay in the area and Taylor started applying for principal positions. He was particularly enamored of Mount Si.

“It has a strong reputation. During my research of the district and Mount Si in particular, I found University of Washington freshmen from Mount Si have very high GPAs. That tells me if they are succeeding at the University of Washington they are encountering academic rigor in high school. I think Mount Si has a pretty dynamic learning community. Teachers care about students,” said Taylor.

Prior to Taylor’s principalship in Auburn, he served as assistant high-school principal and middle-school principal from 1983-1988 in the Kiona-Benton City School District. Taylor worked as a junior-high and high-school teacher in the Richland School District from 1974-1983.

Taylor received his master’s of education degree from Central Washington University, where he also earned special education and administration degrees.

Taylor received the 2003 High School Principal of the Year award from the Washington Library Media Association and the 1998 Washington State Regional Distinguished Principal award from the Association of Washington Middle Level Principals.

Taylor lives in Auburn with his wife Bev. They have two adult children.

Jim Frazier, 44, has been appointed as principal of North Bend Elementary to replace retiring principal Dick Giger. Frazier has been principal at Oakview Elementary School in the Centralia School District since 1998. Prior to that he served as assistant principal and athletic director at Rochester Middle School in the Rochester School District. Frazier spent seven years as an assistant varsity football coach at Onalaska High School and has also coached track. Frazier received his principal certification from Central Washington University and his masters of education in physical education and sports medicine from Eastern Washington University.

Frazier and his wife Colleen have one daughter and one son.

“[They Valley’s] sense of community and family is what brought us here. We’re very excited for this opportunity,” Frazier said.

Monica Chandler, 42, will be the first principal of Cascade View Elementary. Chandler is currently a small schools project coach with the Coalition of Essential Schools Northwest Center in Seattle. She coaches schools with restructuring grants from the Gates Foundation; trains and advises principals and teachers; analyzes teacher’s and student’s work; and helps schools develop vision, goals and action plans. Chandler has been in this role since 2001. Prior to that she was a language arts curriculum specialist in the Ferndale School District since 1997. Chandler served as Nooksack Valley South Primary School principal from 1993-1997. Chandler also taught third through fifth grade in the Nooksack Valley School District from 1983-1993.

Chandler lives in Carnation with her husband Jeff, two sons and one daughter.

“I’m really excited to open a new school. I did that in my first principalship and I’m looking forward to doing that again because you can create that culture, climate and traditions right from the very beginning and make it an inclusive environment for teachers, students and community, said Chandler.”