Education Support Professionals Week and Middle School Announcement

It is with great pride and appreciation that I acknowledge Meridian’s Educational Support Professionals. This week is ESP Appreciation Week! It is a time to step back and really focus on everyone who has a supportive role in ensuring our schools operate smoothly and efficiently. And – in a crisis – are committed and dependable as our Educational Support Professionals have been here in Meridian! I’ve linked to Governor Inslee’s Proclamation to share the specific details about how much our Educational Support Professionals matter to the overall health and performance of our schools and the entire district. To share a bit of the content:

Education support professionals are involved in nearly every aspect of education – maintaining buildings and grounds, preparing and serving meals, keeping school facilities clean and orderly, assisting in the classroom, providing over 60 percent of all instructional hours to special education, English Language Learners, and opportunity gap students, performing and conducting research activities, providing information technology and media services, administrative support functions, and safe transportation, creating a secure and healthy environment, and many other specialized services…

More than anything, I realize I am sharing this information with people who are in the know. We see it here in the district every day. Celebrating all of our Education Support Professionals and the work they do is an opportunity to share with the larger community what an important role they all have in the daily operations of the Meridian School District. Please join me in thanking them!

Many of you are aware we were working to interview a permanent middle school principal. We were extremely pleased at finding Mr. Todd Torgeson to serve in the interim role in late January. Since he took on that role, Mr. Sanderson announced he would be retiring after his leave ended at the end of the school year. After conducting our interview process late last week, we are excited to share our interview team recommended Mr. Torgeson a second time. He has accepted the position, will cease to be our interim, and will shift to become Meridian Middle School’s principal, effective immediately. Below is the information we shared when Mr. Torgeson was hired in late January. Welcome (again) to the Meridian Family, Mr. Torgeson!

It is with great pleasure I introduce Meridian Middle School’s new Interim Principal, Mr. Todd Torgeson. We conducted interviews last Thursday. Our hiring process is quite involved – capped with a full-day interview process involving over 20 people and multiple stations, presentations, and scenarios. We appreciate all who participated in the process and the input we received from students and staff. We also utilized the feedback we received from the survey on the valued characteristics of a new building leader. This information was shared with the interview team to help inform their recommendation. This information may be seen by clicking here.

Mr. Torgeson is a second-generation educator. He has served 27 years in education as a teacher, coach, and administrator. Mr. Torgeson received his B.A. Degree from Eastern Washington University, an M.Ed. from Heritage University while attaining his principal certification. He also recently completed coursework and received his superintendent certification from Western Washington University. Mr. Torgeson worked in the La Conner School District as a middle and high school principal and in the Sedro-Woolley School District as an assistant principal and athletic director. He also taught and coached in the Concrete School District. Over the course of his career, Mr. Torgeson served as a head football, basketball, and golf coach. He was also an assistant baseball coach. All of these activities created opportunities to develop positive relationships with students. He is very proud of his family. He and his wife, Paula, have been married for 30 years. They have three wonderful children: Terrel, Taylor, and Emma. Mr. Torgeson also has a strong connection to Whatcom County. His Dad, Tom, made ice cream at Edaleen Dairy for many years. Mr. Torgeson is honored to work in the Meridian School District and excited to begin the work of supporting the great staff and students at Meridian Middle School.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

James