New principal takes the reins at SES

Joan Warburg has old ties to Sisters Country. She visited with family here for years, eventually moving to be closer to them. Now she's forging a new bond with Sisters - as principal of the district's only public elementary school.

Warburg is impressed by the relationship between local schools and the general community.

"It's a very special quality," she told The Nugget. "We have retired scientists that are investing in the students. We have people in the community who are passionate about music and the arts, who are invested in bringing them to our students. To have all those different enthusiasms makes us a unique place. I've never seen that before, not at any other school."

One month into her new position, Warburg is pleased with the quality of teachers and other employees.

"I feel like they're a phenomenal staff," she said. "They are passionate and excited and enthusiastic."

Warburg believes in an approach that situates parents as partners in education. "It's about supporting what the parents' dreams and visions are for their kids," she explained. "Parents are the first educators. After the students leave our school and go to another school, the parents are still invested."

Starting college in a pre-med program at the University of California at Riverside, Warburg planned to become a pediatrician to "make a lasting impact on children's lives."

She said, "I come from a long line of educators; sometimes you feel like maybe you want to break the mold a little bit. My mom was a principal. Actually, I said I would never become one, because I saw the challenges and stress levels that can come with the job."

Working both in medicine and as a paraprofessional in a special education classroom, she realized that education was her calling. Warburg switched gears and became a teacher. Eventually she became a coach, helping other teachers improve practices for mathematics and language arts. This experience brought her a "vision of what an instructional leader could be, someone who could really impact the culture, the climate, and the opportunities for the students across the school."

As a principal in Moreno Valley, California, she enjoyed shepherding her own school. Warburg then discovered the power of collaborative leadership.

"Through working together with all the principals, I could help move our district forward," she explained. "That's the joy of being a school administrator: supporting teachers and students, and learning to move a whole group forward."

Growing up, Warburg's family mostly lived in California, but also lived in Ecuador for a time. She spent one year in Salem, Oregon with her grandparents. She was "always longing to come back to Oregon. We came through Sisters on our honeymoon, my aunt and uncle lived here, and later my parents moved up here."

Warburg and her husband finally landed in Sisters two years ago, "to be close to my father and support him in his last years." She commuted to the Bend-La Pine School District, where she was an assistant principal.

Her response to seeing the open position at Sisters Elementary: "I was so excited! This would be a great way to get to know my community, give back to my community, and put solid roots down."

The couple's two grown boys live in California.

"Our oldest daughter is a park ranger and photographer, just finished working in Zion National Park and will be at Glacier next," she said. "I also have a daughter here, and two granddaughters attending Sisters High School."

On a day off in Sisters Country, Warburg says you'd likely find her camping or sitting by a river reading a book. She loves to read, particularly Jane Austen "and all the variations on Jane Austen."

"My husband is an avid fly fisherman," she said. "I love to garden, I love photography. I like to shoot landscape, outdoor pictures. That's my form of art and creativity."

She also sings in the Sisters Community Choir.

Family and creativity are among Warburg's values. She mentions that if there were a fire in her home, she knows what she'd grab on the way out. "The quilts my mom made," she said, "the paintings my grandfather made, the wood carvings my grandfather did, my daughter's photography. And then scrapbooks, because I love to keep a history of my life with my family."

Her values extend to families beyond her own.

"Our children are the future of our community," Warburg said. "We want our children not only to grow up here, but to come back and raise their families here."

Part One of The Nugget's interview with Joan Warburg. In Part Two, we'll hear about more specific educational goals and plans for Sisters Elementary.