POULSBO — Kathy Prasch envisions herself as a leader of leaders.

At the May 11 North Kitsap School District board meeting she was confirmed for the principal post at NKHS. The decision will play an integral part in the direction where the district is trying to go, NKSD officials agree.

Though she will be the third principal to occupy the NK office in the last three years, Prasch could be the one to open its door to the community as a whole.

“Hopefully, people will be willing to come in and share their ideas,” Prasch said, “not be talking about in the parking lot, but talk about it with me because that’s where we can get things done.”

A stellar resume, a grueling 12-hour day full of interviews, and a scrutinizing inspection of Prasch and her current school — Santa Teresa High School in San Jose, Calif. — led the North Kitsap School District principal search committee to recommend Prasch as NKHS newest principal.

She will be stepping into lead the high school through a tumultuous time of change which will include a districtwide grade level transition, the opening of a new high school and major renovation project at NKHS. Not to mention both schools’ progression toward Small Learning Communities.

Prasch feels confident that the NKHS community can prevail through cooperation.

“I think my job is to convene the conversation, I should be getting conversations going with the staff, students and parents and I should be the conduit,” she said. “I want something that is not just my idea or any single staff or parent idea, but is a combination of all of our ideas.”

On the hot topic of SLCs, Prasch looks to bring new and constructive ideas to the NKSD table. Prasch began her teaching career in an SLC-driven school in California 15 years ago. Since then, she has been involved at two other schools with SLC components, but each of the three school’s formats were varied.

“There is no prescription,” she said of SLC schools. “It’s how we figure it out as a team and that team needs to include everybody.”

Prasch views SLCs as a positive scheduling tool to better connect kids to the curriculum they learn and noted that her desired form of SLCs groups the core classes, while leaving electives open to all.

The NKSD Guiding Principles, which lay out the guidelines for creating SLCs within North Kitsap high schools, is the document which sparked Prasch’s interest in the job at NKHS.

“I looked at this job and thought, ‘Do I want to do this or should I just retire outright?’ Then I looked at those (Guiding Principles) and I was so excited,” she said. “To me those (are) so right on, it looked like it took a lot of effort from a lot of people.”

Prasch is chomping at the bit to go to work with those and other school-minded people on ideas on how to make the North Kitsap school culture, enjoyable, comfortable and rigorous.

“We feel like she is an incredible match for this community and the work that we are doing,” said NKSD executive director of student support services Gregg Epperson.

During the visit he and a group of four other NKHS representatives took to examine Prasch’s current post in California earlier this week, Epperson said they found that Prasch “walks her talk.” The visit reaffirmed the communicative and cooperative qualities that Prasch expressed during her interviewing process in North Kitsap, he added.

Now those qualities will occupy the NKHS principal office beginning sometime this summer.