Blaine principal to step down in June

Catharine Blaine’s principal, Heather Swanson announced this morning that she will leave her post at the end of this school year.? In an email ?(beginning with?the following Robert Frost quote) she writes :

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -?

?I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”?

?

It would be great, albeit potentially quite boring, if the journey that we call life was always easy and always clear.? I have discovered that with every road we take there is uncertainty coupled with hope. It is at this crossroads that I find myself.? I am excited to announce that I am taking the road “less traveled” and at the end of this school year, I will be packing my bags and heading off to adventure and serve the wide world.

My time here at Catharine Blaine has been amazing in so many ways, and without it I wouldn’t be able to take this risk, and try something different. My connections and relationships that I have built here sustain me and will continue to sustain me as I work to grow personally and professionally.? I am proud of the work we have accomplished here at Blaine over the last six years and am confident that the community will continue to grow in ways we can’t even imagine yet.

Respectfully,

Heather

?Swanson goes on to describe what will happen next:

Nancy Coogan, the executive director for the Central region will be in charge of the hiring process.? We will be holding a community meeting on Wednesday February 29th 7:00pm.

Parents weighed in on the?news:

I’m not surprised at all. We all knew that there were bigger things ahead for Principal Swanson and we were just grateful to have her as a principal while we could. As a parent, and I think my children would agree, Principal Swanson truly did know the name of every single child and made the children her focus of her work at Blaine. I look forward to seeing what Heather has in store for her career — I suspect that the district has sights on her to take on an administrative roll in the future and I’m positive that she’ll thrive in such a position. -anonymous

Another parent who wished to remain anonymous writes:

Heather Swanson has been a spectacular leader and a fantastic principal at Blaine. ?As parents we have been impressed with the undivided time she has been willing to share with the parents and students at school and outside at events like the Seattle Children’s Marathon. ?She will be dearly missed as a principal and as a person.

?Magnolia Voice called principal Swanson for a comment, and as of press time has not heard back.? Check back for updates.