Elementary Schools
by McKenzie MacDonald
As the community prepares for the back-to-school season, a lot of changes are happening within our school district. One such change is the hiring of a new principal for our two outlying elementary schools, Mount Hall Elementary and Naples Elementary. After careful consideration, the school district’s hiring committee decided that Lisa Iverson would be the right fit for these two schools.
Ms. Iverson grew up in Priest River, Idaho, where she discovered her passion for learning and education at
an early age. “I’ve loved
school since I was a little girl,” she said.After graduating, she attended the University of Idaho where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education in 2008 and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership in 2012. Along with her degrees, Ms. Iverson became certified to teach Social Studies and received an endorsement to teach English. For the first four years of her teaching career, Mrs. Iverson taught United States History at Bonners Ferry High School, and for the last three years, she has been teaching eighth grade Language Arts at Boundary County Middle School.
When she is not working, she loves to be with her family. She and her husband Ty have been very busy over the past year raising their son Colton. Spending time with them is her favorite pastime. In the fall, Mrs. Iverson admittedly gets competitive when it comes to football games. “I like cheering for the Seahawks, the Vandals and the Badgers,” she said. If she gets the chance she also enjoys reading and gardening.
As a first-time administrator, Ms. Iverson is looking forward to working with students and teachers in a new capacity. She has a real passion for education and continues to work toward instilling that same passion in others. One of her major goals is becoming acquainted with the students at the schools. “I would like to get to know every single student before the end of the year,” she said.
While being the principal of two different schools may be difficult, Ms. Iverson approaches the challenge with passion and positivity. “I think it will require me to put on two different hats depending on what school I’m at,” she said. “One day I’m a wolverine, one day I’m a wildcat.” She understands that each school will have its own successes and challenges and said, “I’m going to have to embrace those.”
Although there is much that she is looking forward to, Ms. Iverson is also expecting some challenges. The biggest challenge she believes she will face comes from the Migrant and LEP (Limited English Proficient) federal programs. She hopes to provide the best education possible for our community’s migrant and LEP students and plans to work hard to understand all parts of both programs. She wants to make sure she knows what her resources are and that she asks all the right questions. Because both schools already have systems in place for these programs, she hopes to simply step in and support what they have going. “There has been a lot of change with the LEP and Migrant programs over past couple years,” she said. “My hope is to be consistent.”
Ms. Iverson hopes that during her time as principal, people feel that they are able to express any questions or concerns to her directly. “I’m open to questions and any concerns anyone has,” she said. “If they ever need to get ahold of me, I hope they feel like they have access.”
In the world of social media, Mrs. Iverson hopes that everyone keeps her in the loop because she believes that it takes everyone involved to do right by the children in this community.