Former Five Acre School owner becomes interim executive director

Published 1:30 am Monday, August 3, 2026

SEQUIM — Five Acre School’s board of directors has hired Autumn Piontek-Walsh, the school’s former owner, as its interim executive director for the upcoming school year.

Piontek-Walsh owned the school from 2013-2019 before it became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. She joined the school’s board in May and served as temporary director following a series of significant changes in the school’s administration and board near the end of the school year.

Piontek-Walsh said current board members asked her to be the executive director for the next year during a transition period. To accept the position, she resigned from the board and started as executive director on July 1. She plans to serve in that role through next June 30.

Piontek-Walsh has taken a sabbatical from her private mental health therapy practice in Port Angeles to focus on the school.

“I love Five Acre School,” she said. “I spent seven years of my life owning Five Acre School, and I would like to see it succeed.

“I’m really excited to do (the job), and it’s a job I know really well. I know the difficulties, and I also know the things that are exciting and fun about it.”

Theresa Churchill, a current board member and school parent, said they chose Piontek-Walsh because of her previous experience and connections.

“She understood the roots of the school and its vision and values, and she’s able to jump right in rather than having to train new people,” she said.

Churchill said she has a continuity with the school’s philosophy and a relationship with many of the staffers.

Piontek-Walsh was asked to join the all-new school board after former Program Director Sarah Bones was dismissed on May 5 without cause. The board members at the time have since resigned.

After mediation sessions between Bones and school officials, Bones was rehired as the school’s Explorer Class lead for fourth through sixth grade starting this fall.

Bones had been the school’s director for nearly three years and a teacher since 2013.

A new board has come on following the resignations, and it clarified to Bones that she was not terminated for any illegal, unethical or unsafe conduct, but rather due to leadership decisions and differences in vision.

All teachers have agreed to return in the fall, Piontek-Walsh said, with two open positions awaiting reference checks and a committee’s final decision. A new administrative coordinator also has been hired and is being trained.

“We’re just happy the staff decided to stick with us,” Churchill said. “They are really valued and cherished and what makes Five Acre special.

“Some have changed their mind to leave and to come back,” she added. “For them to see we’re moving forward in a way that is collaborative — it’s a wonderful thing as parents and a board.”

The new board also approved the school’s 2026-27 budget. Staffers received a 5 percent salary increase for the new academic year.

A staff mediation session was offered in mid-June, Churchill said.

“I think we’re moving forward,” she said.

There are 13 teachers and teacher assistants for preschool through sixth grade with an anticipated enrollment of about 75-plus students.

Piontek-Walsh said she anticipates the preschool program being full this year for the first time in a few years.

“I’m excited about that,” she said. “The preschool is the feeder program for the elementary school.”

She said the elementary program’s enrollment has been down, and she’s set a goal to increase it.

Churchill said one of the board’s priorities in the coming school year is to establish how the school’s leadership model will work going forward, and they’ll seek buy-in from staff and families.

“We are also hoping to set up plenty of committees for parent involvement and input, so there’s more fluidity,” she said.

Previously, Five Acre split the director position into a program director and a development director position. Merissa Koller of Mission Consulting, LLC was hired as the interim development director to oversee campaign strategy and long-term development efforts, in part to help the school purchase its site.

Piontek-Walsh said Koller resigned from the role on May 20 after submitting a strategic plan to the school.

Koller now serves as the administrative director for a new independent Sequim school called Tidepools Preparatory Academy, 1102 E. Washington St., with classes starting in September.

Five Acre’s multi-prong leadership positions are now under a temporary executive director position, Piontek-Walsh said, as she’ll focus on programming, operations and fundraising.

The school remains on a temporary lease through the end of the summer, and staff are close to securing a lease for the upcoming school year, she said.

Purchase of the property at 515 Lotzgesell Road in Dungeness from owner Juanita Ramsey-Jevne and her son Will Jevne remains on hold. According to a previous statement from Jevnes’ Five Acre Enterprises, they hope to resume sale discussions in the future and are supportive of the continuation of the Five Acre School program.

William “Bill” Jevne and Ramsey-Jevne founded Five Acre School in 1996 with a dedication to fostering curiosity, resilience and a love of learning in children through a whole-child approach. Bill died in 2017.

Piontek-Walsh said she and Ramsey-Jevne are exploring opportunities to collaborate on staff and parent and family training.

“This is her and Bill’s brainchild … and if we can collaborate on something, that is good for the community,” she said.

For more about the school, visit fiveacreschool.org.

________

Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.