Madison Simpson
Hello, friends! As many of you already know, Mr. Kniseley’s last day as our principal was on April 25. But when one story ends, another begins―leading us directly to Mr. Ryan Pike, our new principal for the 2026 school year!
Mr. Pike took a tour of the school in early April―which was when I, along with a fellow editor, had the amazing opportunity to ask Mr. Pike a few questions!
Some tidbits of information about Mr. Pike is that he has over 20 years of teaching experience, and began teaching students in 2002. He also has previously worked in various schools, including Moses Lake, Anacortes, and Stanwood-Camano School Districts.
Q: What is your biggest accomplishment?
A: I think that career-wise, my biggest accomplishment is… being able to be a leader who builds collaboration to do great work and move schools in the right direction. [It’s] working together as a team to figure out how we can best move students in the right direction and make sure that we’re meeting all of their needs and moving that needle towards the positive, wherever it might be. I’ve been able to do that in my career with a team of people and students, because it takes students to do that too, not just the teachers and myself.
Q: What do you like to do outside of school?
A: My family and I love to go camping when we can, but our latest thing has been boating. During COVID, we bought a boat because we couldn’t be around a lot of people, so my family’s taken to that. So boating, or just spending a lot of time with family, even around a campfire.
Q: NSYNC or Backstreet Boys?
A: I can’t say I listen to them too much, but let’s go NSYNC.
(This definitely won’t ruin the tour.)
Q: You said you were a teacher before. What did you teach?
A: I taught in elementary school. I’ve taught grades K through five. I was a kindergarten teacher, third grade teacher, fifth grade teacher, and during those years, I was also an assistant principal for four of them, as I was getting my administration degree at Western Washington University.
Q: How do you plan on keeping a positive environment within the school?
A: Well, that takes all of us, right? So it’s not just myself or the teachers, but the students, too. One of the ways I’ve done that is by creating school charters, where… everyone has a voice in talking about what they want to do at school, and then talking about how they’re going to help everyone feel that way at school… [We’ve been] looking at how we might be able to create our own school charter, where student voice is the main bulk of that because this is their building, right? And we, as teachers and administrators, are there too, to guide them.
And the most important question:
Q: What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
A: I’d have to go with cookie dough right now.
There you have it, folks! This is just a short introduction to Mr. Pike―I’m excited to see what else he has in store for us next school year!