By Mary Owen
The North Santiam School District has named Mike Proctor principal of Stayton Intermediate/Middle School. Matt Olsen will step in as the new assistant principal/athletic director.
”I want to continue and build upon the momentum that has been generated on this campus the past three years,” said Proctor, who replaces outgoing principal Jamie McCarty, moving on to serve as principal for Silver Crest and Victor Point schools in the Silver Falls School District.
Proctor graduated in 1990 from Western Oregon University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. He received his master’s degree in teaching in 2002 from Grand Canyon University and completed his administrative license in 2005 from Portland State.
From 2007-11, Proctor served as assistant principal/athletic director for Stayton High School before taking on the same role at SIMS.
“Teaching/coaching and administration is all about relationships,” Proctor said. “I have been blessed to work in four different districts. I have former students and athletes all over the United States that I continue to stay in touch with, and that’s amazing.”
Proctor said the satisfaction he gets from watching his students become professionals, spouses and parents is a gift.
“The true highlight is that all those former students and players still include me in their lives, and that they still call me coach,” said Proctor of his 24-year career. “That’s what education is about.”
In his new role, Proctor said his biggest challenge will be preparing students to take the OAKS test, and moving forward toward Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced test.
“Common Core establishes clear guidelines for what all students should know and be able to apply in the areas of math and language arts,” he said. “Teaching to the Common Core is just a great educational practice. It is guiding students toward developing a greater understanding of their learning and how it applies to the real world. We have been making that move since we arrived on campus.”
Another challenge is continued understanding with NSSD’s new standards-based report card, designed to provide parents, teachers and students with specific information about a student’s progress toward content standards, Proctor said.
He wants parents to know he will continue to move Stayton Intermediate/Middle School forward, providing students with “a safe, positive environment to learn.”
“We will continue to be focused on student learning first,” Proctor said. “I want this school to be an exceptional school, a place where students want to be, where parents want their children to attend, and where staff continue their growth as lifelong learners and prepare students to become productive members of our community.”
Proctor has been married 28 years to his wife, Darci, who teaches and coaches at Stayton High School.
“We have been blessed with two wonderful children,” he said. “Our daughter Brittney is a dental hygienist in Silverton. She is married to Jacob Peters and they live in the area. Our son, Coby, will be a senior next fall at Pacific University in Forest Grove.”
Assistant principal/athletic director
Matt Olson grew up in Stayton, moving to town with his family when he was in first grade. Olson married his wife, Juli Ann, in 2003, and the couple have two children, Madelyn, 5, Emmitt, 2, and a third due this month.
In 2006, Olson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education. He finished his master’s in educational leadership from Portland State University last month.
Olson coached in the North Santiam School District since 2002, as well as a two-year stint in 2011-13 as an assistant coach for women’s basketball at Chemeketa Community College. Most recently, he has been dean of students and a physical education teacher at Timber Ridge School in the Greater Albany School District.
“As a teacher at Stayton Middle School, I helped design and implement a program called ‘Guided Study’ that dramatically reduced the number of students receiving F’s,” Proctor said.
“In my new role as assistant principal, I will support both students and staff each and every day with the goal of student learning being the top priority in every decision I make as a leader. Administrators, staff, students and the community have worked very hard at making Stayton Middle School a great place to work and learn, and I hope to continue that work in the coming years.”
Olson is excited for this next step in his education career and is ready to face the challenges.
“I really want the community to know that Stayton Middle School is a great place,” he said.
“I want it to be a safe and welcoming environment for our kids, staff and community members. Having grown up in Stayton, attending SMS and later working there as a teacher, it is a place that I love dearly, and I want it to leave a lasting impression on our students, just as it did me.”
