PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend School District has hired Patrick Gaffney as the new principal for Blue Heron Middle School.
Gaffney will take over the role from Matthew Holshouser for the 2017-18 school year.
Gaffney was picked from a pool of 17 applicants and was officially hired July 1, according to Mary Colton, secretary to school Superintendent John Polm.
“Throughout the process of applying and interviewing for the position, each person I met was kind and genuine,” Gaffney said in a Port Townsend School District news release.
“I truly appreciated the opportunity to meet part of the community during the evening forum. It is very evident to me that education is a high priority for all stakeholders in this community.”
While principals usually take most of the summer off, Gaffney has been preparing for the school year, which starts for staff Aug. 29. Students will be back Sept. 5.
“He’s been in and out while he’s trying to move to get ready for the school year,” Colton said.
Gaffney has a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Washington University and a master’s degree from Walden University.
Gaffney began teaching in Ocean Shores. He has since worked as a teacher for 15 years and as an administrator for three years.
Gaffney most recently taught math in Memphis, Tenn., and was an assistant principal and the athletic director at a seventh-through-12th-grade school in Chewelah, according to the news release.
Gaffney also has worked as a counselor in his more than 19 years of public education experience.
“I am excited and thankful to be selected as the principal of Blue Heron School,” Gaffney said in the news release. “I look forward to becoming part of the Port Townsend community.”
Colton didn’t know the plans of the former principal.
Holshouser moved to Port Townsend in 2015 to serve as principal. Before coming to Port Townsend, Holshouser worked at an American school in Brazil.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
