Washougal School District announced the hiring of three new principals, all starting June 1.
Renae Burson will take over as principal of Gause Elementary School, Tami Culp will be the new associate principal at Jemtegaard Middle School and Tracey MacLachlan was hired as the planning principal of Columbia River Gorge Elementary School, which is expected to break ground this summer.
Burson comes to Washougal from Bella Vista Elementary School in Bella Vista, Calif., where she has been the principal for the last two years after serving as a curriculum and instruction coordinator, math project instructor, math consultant and classroom teacher.
She is taking over for Rex Larson, who retires at the end of the school year.
Culp, currently the instructional coach for the North Clackamas School District in Milwaukie, Ore., brings 25-plus years of education experience to Washougal, working as an elementary school classroom teacher, instructional coach, school administrator and adjunct professor at Concordia University in Portland. Culp came to education after volunteering in her daughter’s kindergarten class, which she found so rewarding she gave up her career in advertising and marketing. She has lived in Washougal for 10 years with her husband. Her son, James, owns Local Girls Hawaiian Shave Ice and Grill.
