Meet interim Blaine HS principal Beth Eide

Newly appointed Blaine High School interim principal Beth Eide has lived in the world of education almost her entire life.

Growing up in Montana, Eide would help set up her mother’s classroom where she taught special education. Her first experience educating on her own came when she volunteered at a summer program for students with disabilities.

Following her mother’s footsteps, Eide became a special education teacher in Montana before receiving a master’s degree from San Diego State University and teaching in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District.

Eide and her family – three boys, in college, middle school and elementary school – moved in 2016 to Washington where she earned her administrative certification from Western Washington University. Eide was then hired at the Blaine school district as dean of students for 6th-12th grade in 2021.

Eide said that while every school has its own unique qualities, she enjoys the closeness and sense of community when walking through the halls of Blaine High School.

“Blaine feels comfortable to me,” Eide said. “I can walk through the courtyard and say hello to students, know their name, know what activities they are in that week, what assignments they are working on in English. … I’m invested in their wellbeing inside and outside of the school, and at a school this size, you can actually follow through with that investment.”

Eide’s passion for education has taken her around the country, and now she’s undertaking her biggest role, as interim principal of Blaine High School.

Her first priority, she told The Northern Light, is to establish a strong connection between the school and the parents and guardians of Blaine’s students.

Creating a parent advisory board, according to Eide, is the best way to foster a strong working relationship, and to better understand the needs of local students. One of the biggest challenges Eide hopes to tackle is rising absence rates.

“The biggest challenge is always preparing students for the world outside of Blaine High School,” Eide said. “But my short-term goal this year is getting guardians and community members of Blaine back into the schools.”

In just the first few weeks on the job, Eide has already urged local guardians to contact her if they would like to be included on the new advisory board, or just to discuss what is best for their students.

For parents who are interested in the advisory board, email Eide at eeide@blainesd.org.

“With a parents advisory group I can listen to what our own guardians have as their concerns and we can workshop solutions as a team,” Eide said. “I’m a parent of a college freshman, 6th grader and 3rd grader. So I have some understanding of what parenting in 2024 looks like, but my sample size is small. I need to hear from more people.”

Heading a high school of hundreds of students is no small task, but for Eide, the passion for educating is clear. Eide said that seed of passion was planted back in Montana, helping her mother set up for another school year.

“I always admired how each day of work, for her, wasn’t work,” Eide said. “I know that education is just where I’m supposed to be.”