NKHS principal resigns, will leave at end of school year

POULSBO — Ailing family members in New Mexico have prompted North Kitsap High School principal Roy Herrera to resign his post at the end of this school year, closing a three-year tenure of shepherding change.

“My decision is based on ongoing personal family issues in New Mexico and the impact that they’ve had on my wife and I here in Poulsbo,” Herrera said, citing a terminally ill brother-in-law as well as an aging mother-in-law as his reasons. “Based on timing and my loyalty to the district, if I was going to leave, now is the time.”

In the midst of a flurry of change, Herrera said he plans to stay on until the end of the school year and allow the district time for transition at the helm of the high school. District and NKHS administrators will meet next week to start the process of selecting a replacement, according to an NKSD press release.

“I really believe that what the district is doing with guiding principles and SLCs is the right thing. I’m so positive about that,” Herrera said. “The accolades are going to come after the change is set in five years from now, when everything is said and done.”

Herrera has already seen a fair share of change since joining the district as principal at North Kitsap High School in July 2003 after coming out of retirement from New Mexico.

The most notable was the recent switch which altered the NKHS day from a block schedule to a six-period day. The shift was also one of his biggest challenges in three years, he said.

“I feel my biggest accomplishment is helping to focus our students on a focused registration,” Herrera said. “Before it was pick-and-choose and change at any time, now the students pick the four-year plan and we really try to honor that.”

Two other achievements Herrera feels he has helped to bring about during his tenure are helping students center on the complete high school experience, and assisting the guidance department look at the “whole” student and how to work with him or her through the entire four years.

“The community, students and our staff have been great, I couldn’t have wanted to be in a better position,” he said. “I feel our high school is going in a very positive direction and we have really capable administrators that can help the transition and continue the work.”

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