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Wapato School District

Preparing Students for Success in the Global Economy

PK-5 Reconfiguration Staff Landing Page

PK-5 Elementary Reconfiguration Staff Information Page

On January 27, 2026, Superintendent Kelly Garza announced the District’s decision to reconfigure our elementary schools for the start of the 2026-2027 school year. This decision will reconfigure four schools into three schools and allow us to speed up the construction timeline to build the new elementary school.

Reconfiguration is a complex puzzle that requires the relocation of staff, materials, and resources to new locations this summer. 

This page is dedicated to collecting all information about the Reconfiguration Project so employees can find the facts at one central location. We’ll post announcements, instructions, schedules, and other key communications on this page. 

You can submit a Question to the “Frequently Asked Questions” document using the links to the right. The District will monitor the questions, combine similar questions together, and communicate out answers to the questions as they are finalized. 

Use the button below to ask questions about the upcoming Reconfiguration

Ask Questions Here!

Answers to the FAQs (Updated 4/2/2026)

Announcements

Paraeducator Assignments

The District released preliminary paraeducator assignments for 2026-2027 on April 2, 2026. The information can be accessed at this link.

Displaced paraeducators due to the closure of Satus or enrollment adjustments in other schools will bid on open positions starting April 14, 2026. 

Note: The spreadsheet is only accessible to district Gmail accounts from wapatoschools.org. Private/personal emails will not be grated access. 

Packing Instructions

The District has issued instructions for packing up classrooms. These were sent out via email to affected staff on March 20th and the document is linked below. 

Note: These instructions apply to those moving between schools AND those moving classrooms in the same school. 

Elementary Specialists Announced

The District has completed the process to assign K-5 specialists to the three reconfigured elementary schools. The full roster of assignments is linked below. 

Principals Announced

On February 12th, Superintendent Garza announced the administrative teams for the three reconfigured elementary schools starting in the 2026-2027 school year: 

  • Ben Newell (Principal) and Alejandra Rodriguez (Asst. Principal) at Adams for Grades 4-5
  • Amber Kinley (Principal) and Ana Wright (Asst. Principal) at Camas for Grades 1-2-3
  • Theresa Shinn (Principal) and Ken Olden (Asst. Principal/Director of Assessment) at Simcoe for Grades PK-TK-Kinder

The District will begin working with principals on their certificated allocations for 2026-2027 so schedules can begin to be developed. 

Elementary Listening Tours in February

The Cabinet will be visiting staffs at the four elementary schools to listen and hear dialog and questions about the upcoming reconfiguration. 

Here’s the Schedule:

  • Wednesday, Feb. 4th: Adams (Classified at 8:40 AM, Certificated at 3:20 PM)
  • Thursday, Feb. 5th: Simcoe (Certificated at 8:05 AM, Classified at 8:45 AM)
  • Friday, February 6th: Camas Classified at 2:30 PM
  • Tuesday, February 10th: Satus Certificated at 8:10 AM
  • Wednesday, February 11th: WELCOME at 7:45 AM and Camas Certificated at 8:10 AM
  • Wednesday, February 18th: Satus Classified at 2:35 PM

These listening meetings are a chance for employees to give feedback, ask questions, and dialog with the Cabinet. We won’t be making a presentation or deciding anything in this meeting – we really want to listen to employees! 

Remember, you can always submit a Question to the Frequently Asked Questions Document at this link.

Documents