North Kitsap School District

a great place to live and learn!

Board of Directors
Tom Anderson District 1 Dan Delaney District 2 Melanie Mohler District 3 Val Torrens District 4 Ed Strickland District 5 Board of Directors
Schoolboard@nkschools.org

May 31, 2010 To Whom It May Concern, I am writing this letter of recommendation for Scott Niemann, an excellent principal in the Burlington-Edison School District. I had the pleasure of hiring Scott as the principal of a K-8 school in the district and worked with him for three years. While Scott background has been at the middle school and high school levels, he was quick to learn how to meet the needs of elementary level students. He also mastered the curriculum for the K-8 school. Lucille Umbarger is a 750 student K-8 building. It serves a diverse student population and Scott has done an excellent job of managing the school and being its instructional leader. Being the leader of a school this size requires excellent communication skills with staff and community members, creative scheduling of courses and activities and maintaining a safe learning environment for students. As the instructional leader Scott has done an outstanding job of facilitating the staffs movement towards professional learning communities. He has facilitated staff discussions as they have embraced the concept of professional learning communities, created time in the school schedule for staff to meet, and establish parameters and timelines for structured staff conversations. Another strong quality that Scott possesses is his ability to develop strong staff relationships. Scott involves his staff in decision making and works to find compromise when disagreements occur. He has also worked with staff members who have not performed at the expected level and has worked with them through the process of developing a plan of improvement, and if necessary non-renewal. I have first had experience of Scott working with a staff member through and extremely difficult situation, and through his tactful approach and communication skills, the issue was resolved completely. At the district wide level Scott has participated in our district cultural leadership team. He has a keen interest and empathy for working with disadvantaged students and has a made significant contributions to the work of the committee. Scotts ability to work towards not only the interest of his building but also the interest of the entire school district is commendable. Scott has completed the superintendent certification program because he desires to serve students from a district level position. Scott has the global view of the district organization which will serve him well in any capacity as a district administrator. His experiences at both the elementary and secondary school levels have given him a unique perspective of the entire K-12 system. Given his track record to date I have every confidence that he will be a very successful district level administrator. I highly recommend Scott Niemann for both a principal position as well as a district level position. He will give completely to the job and be a team player. I would be pleased to discuss Scotts qualifications for your position in greater detail and can be reached at 360.779.8702.

Superintendent Richard O. Jones, Ed.D.

18360 Caldart Avenue NE Poulsbo, Washington 98370 Phone: (360) 779-8702 Fax: (360) 697-3175 rjones@knkschools.org

Mission North Kitsap School District in partnership with the community, will provide an academically challenging educational program to meet the diverse needs of all students in a safe, nurturing environment and empower them to be competent, creative, compassionate and contributing citizens

Sincerely,

Dr. Richard Jones Superintendent North Kitsap School District