MTHS principal Greg Schwab is now seeking a job as an assistant superintendent in the Edmonds School District. Schwab sent an email to staff on March 8 saying that he was applying to fill a position being vacated by current Assistant Superintendent Ken Limon.
“It’s one of those opportunities that has come along,” Schwab said. “I didn’t start out this year thinking that I was going to be applying for a new job.”
In the email, he said that he had been selected for an interview this week.
If he were to get the new job at the district, he wouldn’t start until July 1 and would continue in his current role as principal until the end of this school year.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for me to have an impact in helping to shape a system with all the secondary schools,” Schwab said. “The person in this position has the responsibility of working with middle schools and high schools.”
Schwab said that it was a difficult decision for him to choose to apply because he loves his job as principal at MTHS.
The news that Schwab may be leaving caused reactions from many students.
“I do think he’s a good principal,” sophomore Jessy Smith said. “I don’t run into him. I don’t talk to him a lot but from what I hear, kids think he’s good and he handles discipline well.”
Even if you don’t run into Schwab that often, everyone knows him as someone who cares for students and helps execute student activities such as Mix-It-Up.
“He’s kind,” freshman Fiona Naucukidi said. “I don’t really know him that much but I’d miss him.”
Schwab has built quite a legacy in his eight years so far as MTHS principal.
He became principal at the start of the second year of the experimental small schools program after then principal, Mark Baier, abruptly left to take a job in Oregon.
In 2008, Schwab announced the end of the five-year experiment that was the small schools program, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Due to declining enrollment and lack of funding, MTHS switched back to the traditional and comprehensive educational model found at most schools.
His popularity among students and staff alike is almost unanimous and he is highly respected in the Edmonds School District community.
If Schwab were to leave and take the job at the district, a lengthy search process would begin to find a new principal.
If he doesn’t get the new job, he will stay at MTHS as principal.
“I love this school, I love the community. I have worked in several different schools in my 24 years in education,” Schwab said. “This is by far the greatest place I’ve ever worked at in terms of the teachers and students.”
