Lopez Island School District - Home of the Lobos

Linda Martin Superintendent

Linda Martin joins Lopez Island School District in fall 2009 as the new Superintendent and Lopez Elementary School Principal. To give both jobs the attention they deserve, on Mondays and Thursdays she’ll be wearing her principal’s hat and on Tuesdays and Wednesday she’ll be donning her superintendent’s cap. On Friday, she’ll keep both hats within reach as she tackles a long list of tasks that range from addressing elementary school curriculum to overseeing construction projects.

Linda Martin first became interested in education when her own children attended school. She joined the PTA, and then was appointed to the school board. Although she was raised to believe she didn’t need an education to succeed, her own experience volunteering gave her great respect for the teaching profession. “I really feel it’s not an occupation, but a calling,” she says.

She began her own education by attending Bellevue Community College on grants and scholarships, and then went on to Seattle Pacific University (SPU) to earn a bachelor’s degree, a teaching certificate, and then a master’s degree in language arts. “I believe in lifelong learning,” she says – a creed she has lived by for the past 18 years in Monroe School District, beginning in 1991 as a first grade teacher.

After 7 years of teaching she was encouraged by colleagues and family to attend the University of Washington as a Danforth student at the School of Education, where she was awarded both a program administration and a principal certificate.  During her training at the University of Washington, Linda served as an assistant principal, staff development coordinator, and assessment coordinator. The experience convinced her that she could be happy leading instead of teaching.  “An administrator is someone who has the audacity to think they can make a difference,” says Linda Martin.  She did just that for the past 10 years as the principal of Chain Lake Elementary School, a school of between 450 and 650 students that housed both the district’s gifted and behavior disorder programs.

With her EdD from SPU complete, her husband retired and her sons and daughter-in-law happily settled and on their own, Linda Martin said she was again encouraged by colleagues and her family to take yet another step in her lifelong path of learning. The new Lopez job is a perfect match for her, allowing her to remain close to kids as elementary principal – a job she loves and knows – and to use her many years of education and experience to help steer a course for the district as superintendent –a role that is new to her. She is excited to make the educational experience for students on Lopez ever better, and to support the school’s excellent teaching staff. “It’s a noble honorable profession,” she says. “I don’t think there is anything more important.”