Teacher Sara Floyd, left, and student teacher Emily Nudding meet with shy second-grader Kiiya Larson and her mother, Sandra Lake, on Monday afternoon at Willamina Elementary School.

Chrissy Ragulsky
NewsRegister.com

Sara Floyd welcomed Kiiya Larson to her second-grade Willamina Elementary School classroom Monday afternoon.

During a time reserved for parent-teacher conferences, Floyd took the opportunity to meet Kiiya’s foster parents, Amelie Redman and Tom Beck, and her mother, Sandra Lake.

Floyd went over the school’s education compact with Kiiya and the three adults in her life. Before everyone left, she walked Kiiya over to her desk. She’ll be sitting next to Liam Robbins and across from Dylan Knight when school starts Wednesday.

“It’s the best,” Floyd said, regarding the two days of parent-teacher conferences that open the school year in Willamina. “It’s so positive. It’s very nice.”

This will be Kiiya’s first year in the district. She just moved to Oregon from Alaska.

Kiiya was very subdued that first day. But Floyd assured her mom and foster parents it wouldn’t be long before she feels at home in the 23-student class.

Willamina is getting the earliest start of any district in Yamhill County again this year. School won’t begin in Amity, Dayton, McMinnville, Newberg, Sheridan and Yamhill-Carlton until next Tuesday — the day after Labor Day.

Willamina High, which shared an Oaken Hills Drive campus with the elementary, opened its doors to freshmen and sophomores Monday. Juniors and seniors started this morning.

To the west in Grand Ronde, the middle school launched a new year with a new principal, Superintendent Gus Forster. He was appointed to the dual role after Kathy Long resigned to take a teaching position at Tillamook Bay Community College.

Forster plans to retire at the end of this year. He said returning to the classroom part time would give him a busy but fun way to go out.

“So, today was your first day as principal,” board member Loran Wasson commented to Forster at Monday night’s school board meeting.

“Yep, back in the saddle,” responded Forster, who had previously doubled up as superintendent and high school principal before Tim France was hired to take the high school helm. “It was a great day,” he said.

Forster said it was exciting to be back in a building with students on a full-time basis. But he said there was no way he could do both jobs without the help of Executive Secretary Deb Eisele and Deputy Clerk Carol Haight, his district office staff.

“If I’ve been out of the office, I’ll come back and they’ll tell me what’s going on and what they’ve done,” he said. “That’s fine with me.”

He said getting together with the middle school staff last week was exciting. The atmosphere was positive, with everyone buying into changes the district is implementing.

“We’re slowly implementing PBS,” Forster said, explaining that stands for positive behavior support. “It’s going to be a districtwide program. The high school and the elementary school already are into it.”

He said, “The federal government is sinking a lot of money into this. Data we have seen indicates districts using the program have seen a significant increase in student achievement.”

Forster said he started and ended his day at the middle school, deciding to stay away from the district office, as he knew his staff had things under control there.

He didn’t convene a schoolwide assembly, choosing instead to meet with the sixth, seventh and eighth graders separately, then with the student council.

“This is where I flourish,” Forster said of the school setting. “It’s what I like to do.”