North Beach Elementary School (9018 24th Ave NW) will have a new principal next school year.
Seattle Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson sent a letter stating that the current principal, Joanne Bowers, has requested a transfer to another school and will be assigned to the same role at Green Lake Elementary. Bowers will stay at North Beach through this school year and start at Green Lake on July 1.
“Our plan is to conduct a hiring process that includes the opportunity for the school community to participate in interviews of applicants. An interview committee will be established that will include staff and family representatives,” the letter states.
According to spokeswoman Patti Spencer, the hope is to have the new principal appointed by the end of the school year.
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
So the burning question is:
Why did she request transfer to another school?
Otherwise, there’s no story.
Agreed. How are the parents at North Beach responding to this? Sorrow? Elation?
word on the street is north beach parents weren’t happy with her…i believe they unfarily (imo) blamed her for a drop in test scores…
it depends on which parent side you’re on. apparently there’s a *clique* that has wanted her out.
At least they are engaging the parents this time! When Loyal Heights got a new principal last year, nobody around here was consulted. However, this was a blessing- Wayne Floyd would have never been the first choice, but he’s added so much to the school. Unfortunately, I will be very surprised if he is able to stick around. Looks like our fourth year at LH will bring out fourth principal. Thanks, geniuses of the John Stanford Center!!!
Eltrain, have you heard rumors that Loyal Heights is getting a new principal?
Meddling in local schools is the only way to keep all those paper pushers down at John Stamford employed.
The principal leaving North Beach is really one of the ‘bad apples’ with the social graces of a piranha.
She has singe-handedly created an atmosphere of disrespect and fear. She has been a terrible leader! Each and every school assembly she yells and lectures the kids.
She created a “bully” box where children were supposed to feel safe to leave anonymous comments about bullies. I know of a couple of kids who left an anonymous message that , she, Ms. Bowers, the principal, was the bully. Instead of listening to the children and looking inward, at perhaps her bullying tendencies, she went room to room asking teachers if they recognized the writing. The two kids who wrote the note, NOT as a joke, or bratty prank, were summoned to her office to receive the lecture of their lives.
Recently there was an incidence at the school where a perceived to be threatening stranger was seen hanging around the school grounds on several occasions, talking to some of the children and urinating in the bushes. Ms. Boers was supposed to call 911. Through a later investigation into the matter it was discovered that the principal had never called 911, yet had implied that she had and blamed the lack of police response to the incident on the police themselves. A review of 911 calls showed that the principal never made the call.
There are other complaints about her that are petty in nature that I will not go into. I think Ms. Bowers does not have what it takes to work with children in the leadership capacity of school principal.
I FEEL SORRY FOR THE KIDS AT GREENLAKE!!!!
Really Mona? It is your comments and the “clique” of a handful of NB parents that has perpetuated the negative and tense atmosphere at the school for the past two years.
Ms. Bowers has done a pretty good job as far as I’m concerned (and many other parents that I have spoken with)…and there is no way to make everyone “happy” 100% of the time. Imagine having a profession where you’re dealing with hundreds of kids & parents each day…let alone the other hundred of things to deal with in a day!
I find your “bashing” of Ms. Bowers innappropriate, mean and childish. YOU actually seem to be behaving like a bully.
Your stories about the assembly “yelling” and the way she handled the “stranger” are exaggerated and not completely factual the way you have described above.
It’s time for everyone to stop complaining and whining over frivolous matters…the “drama” has left most of us exhausted. Fight your battles that are worth fighting, but leave the garbage behind.
Seriously, parents, get a job, get a life, but please do not teach this petty crap to your soon to be ‘adult’ children. Our world does not need a bunch of whiny kids running around blaming mommy and daddy and the principal for the problems in this world. Grow a set, and move on. this is the kind of crap that is forcing me to private school.
Czuri1, I would like to back up Mona’s version of the events regarding Ms. Bowers, and let you know that there is much, much more negative work she has done. I am able to compare her to the two previous principals, who created a very successful environment at North Beach, and you never got the kind of arguing among parents that is now going on. Under the leadership of the previous two principals, North Beach rose to the highest WASL grades in a regular elementary school in the city, but has since gone drastically backwards under Bowers. But this was not by far the parents’ only complaint. Take a look at the staff survey results posted on Seattleschools.org, and you will see that the staff gives her low and rapidly dropping results, much lower than the district average, but gave her predecessors much higher scores. This alone is evidence or poor leadership. My children used to come home saying how much they loved the (previous) principal, and now universally I hear the kids and their friends talk constantly about how much they dislike and disrespect her. I personally know of multiple situations where Ms. Bowers took negative actions against children whose parents complained about her. She strongly resented and rejected any parent input, the same input that had created a very strong school until the time she came. This is no “clique” of parents getting rid of an unfairly maligned principal, this is the majority of parents that have been trying to oust for two years because of her terrible, selfish and vindictive performance. Green Lake parents should quickly be sure that they let Ms. Bowers know that they will not allow the same behavior at their school. Czuri1, if you liked her, you were in the small minority, and perhaps never had a previous good principal to compare against. Most parents couldn’t wait for her to leave. I am looking forward to North Beach being able to heal after two plus years of damage.
I like Ms. Bowers. I haven’t had any negative dealings with her. She knows all the children’s names, seems to have a good heart and, I feel, is reasonable. Many kids are sad she is leaving. Last week, the day after her announcement, I saw two kids sadly hugging her in the hallway. She will be missed. Not by all. But by some. She’s not perfect. She’s flawed. She’s made some poor choices. But she’s also made some good ones. I have never witnessed her bullying a child. She seems to have the rare talent of keeping kids in line while not coming across as an ogre. Being a principal having to please every parent, staff member and student, not to mention her superiors sounds like a hellish job to me. I try to give her the benefit of the doubt.
North Beach dad could use some counseling. Ms. Bowers did nothing that could make you, or any of the children ‘need to heal’. If you were a drama major, good work. And we wonder why this world is so crazy right now.
north beach dad…we obviously have very different viewpoints and opinions. and yes, i have had the opportunity to experience more than one principal at nb…have been there for 5 years.
as north beach mom mentioned, no one is perfect, and i don’t see how anyone can blame ONE person/principal for the drop in the WASL scores…that is really what started the disconnect between some families and ms. bowers. there are so many other factors that may have contributed to this, and frankly, i’m really not all that worried about the test scores. are children are thriving for the most part, and will be just fine.
welcome to the wonderful world of beauracracy, bad economy and cut-backs…we are all making sacrifices right now. what i’m disgusted by is the fact that the kids have picked up on the ‘negativity’ in the school. that’s bad. that causes stress. i don’t think i am in the minority either. principals and staff have their hands tied. parents need to help them and not pull the ties that bind tighter.
the positives contributions of ms. bowers far outweigh the negative…and that’s what i’m going to focus on.
i guess the “clique” i was referring to involved the ‘task force’ of nb elementary parents that got together over the summer to try to ‘oust’ ms. bowers…apparently representing the PTA?? again, i could be wrong, but this is the information that i caught wind of last august at a park. that was enough to put a rift in the school…as far as i know, 99% of the PTA was not aware of this congregation, only through rumor and gossip. this really put a damper on the beginning of the school year as far as i’m concerned.
and another note…i too have had to speak with ms. bowers on more than one occassion when it’s involved one of my kids- even after disagreeing with the situation-myself or my children were never singled out and punished as a reprimand. i can’t speak for the rest of the parents that have had negative situations, but i do know that going behind someone’s back usually doesn’t result in a positive outcome.
i really have nothing more to say other than one note to greenlake elementary parents: do not judge ahead of time and give her a fair shake. we all deserve that at a minimum.