Principal finalist meets the public

COEUR d’ALENE — The search for Coeur d’Alene High School’s next principal may be near its goal. Longtime educator and CHS Class of 1993 graduate Bret Heller met with students, staff, and the public on Thursday. The sole finalist for the vacant CHS principal’s job asked questions as well as answered them in his all-day meetings marathon.

The current principal at Victory Middle School in the West Ada School District near Boise said the job at CHS would be a dream come true.

“I’ve gotten emotional many times in the last few weeks with my family,” said the Coeur d’Alene native. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Idaho in 2001 and said at the time, there weren’t many openings nearby. He took a position as an eighth-grade health teacher in the West Ada School District, and has spent the last 17 years there developing experience as a teacher and administrator. After working as a health teacher at Eagle Middle School, Heller served as assistant principal of Meridian High School, then principal of Lake Hazel Middle School, before opening Victory Middle School in 2016.

Throughout the forum with district patrons, Heller emphasized his experience at setting high standards, and supporting people in the pursuit of those standards. One of the most important lessons he’s learned during his 12 years in administration is “you’re never going to make everybody happy and you should stop trying.”

Students, teachers and staff may sometimes not agree with him at first, but he said he’s often won them over and seen them thrive in the end.

“I’ve never had a teacher leave because they were fed up with teaching,” he said. Some of the staff at Lake Hazel Middle School resisted his vision for the school at first, but then came over with him to Victory Middle School and are now upset at the possibility of losing him to Coeur d’Alene, he said.

He inherited a rough environment at Lake Hazel Middle School and tackled behavior problems right away by forming a behavior response intervention team and setting clear expectations across the entire campus. By the third year, the older students knew exactly what was expected of them and disciplinary issues declined, he said. By the fifth year, the school was a positive environment, he said.

Heller said he desired parental involvement and opportunities to connect with them. “If parents are involved in the entire process of what’s going on in the school, then students will be more successful.” He told patrons that he helped start a booster club for academic extracurricular activities as assistant principal for Meridian High School.

Heller said he supported dual credit courses and wanted to aid advanced students in their continued growth. He also recognized that “not every kid is a four-year college student.” His time in Meridian has shown him the value of both college prep and vocational career prep, he said.

Everything about the school ought to be geared around students achieving their full potential, said Heller. Tapping into the strong CHS culture that values each and every single person is a key to that, he added. He frequently said that he wants no individual to feel isolated, but rather cared for.

Former CHS principal Steve Casey said he loved Heller’s energy and his connection to the community. Bringing him aboard would be a long-term hire, said Casey. He also joked about how he didn’t remember Heller from his time serving as resident disciplinarian in the early 1990s. That’s a good thing, though, said Casey, because it meant he was a good student.

Christina Hatfield said she thought Heller “really knew his stuff.” She also valued his history here. “Not all candidates can say they graduated from the school they apply to,” she said.

Heller said he wouldn’t consider leaving his adopted community of educators, students, and neighbors if it weren’t for the fact that this position is the right fit for him and his family. Both sides of his family live in the area, he said. He said his wife and four kids are thrilled at the possibility, even though it will mean loaning him out to the school many nights for extracurricular academic and athletic events.

“I couldn’t imagine a better opportunity or a more exciting opportunity,” he said.

Coeur d’Alene School District director of secondary education Trina Caudle said the final decision about the position would be made sometime next week.