Sean Moss was unanimously approved May 17 by the Quilcene School Board as the new K-12 principal.

Moss has worked for the past six years as an art, history, technology and senior-project teacher, as well as a principal intern, for the Rosalia School District in Eastern Washington.

Quilcene Superintendent Wally Lis praised the district’s staff, students and families for being so active and vocal in the selection process for a principal to replace Gary Stebbins.

“You changed your schedules and went the extra distance,” Lis said. “It was a unified process, in which everyone offered their comments.”

Lis shared that the final three principal candidates had deemed the process “very thorough,” and he complimented them for representing themselves well.

“They ate lunch in our cafeteria and enjoyed hearing our questions,” Lis said. “They were interviewing us as much as we were interviewing them.”

SIMILAR TO QUILCENE

While Lis appreciated all three finalists, he praised Moss as the “most qualified” candidate, due to his prior experience at a school similar to Quilcene.

“Plus, his record of service in the military shows a maturity,” Lis said of Moss’ eight years in the U.S. Navy as a shipboard firefighter and training specialist.

“Sean has been well-received, but trying to replace a legend like Dr. G will be a challenge,” Lis added, upon which Stebbins could be heard chuckling under his breath and saying, “They keep saying things like that, and I’ll never fit through the door.”

Moss, like his fellow finalists, was not in attendance for the board meeting, but he contacted The Leader later to share some details about himself.

An avid outdoorsman who hails from Spokane, Moss has a family connection to education through his grandfather, a chemistry teacher with whom he went fishing and hiking.

After his time in the Navy, Moss put his G.I. Bill to good use by funding undergraduate degrees in art and history education, and later a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, all from Eastern Washington University.

Sean Moss comes to Quilcene with his wife, Alana, and 3-year-old son Mason in tow.

“We’ve already met many wonderful students, staff and community members in our visits to the area, and are extremely excited for the opportunity to become members of the Quilcene family,” Moss said.