All impending school years carry some sense of trepidation, excitement or anticipation for incoming students, teachers, administrators and staff. For Seaside High School, the 2015-16 school year is a milestone, Principal Sheila Roley said.

The class of 2016 will be the 100th class to graduate from Seaside High School.

Throughout the school year, students and staff look forward to making a big deal out of the “100th Class” celebration, Roley said.

“In general, students are the ones with the really good ideas,” she said.

She designated Associated Student Body Senior Class President Alie Zagata to lead a team in putting together a history of the school and planning activities and events throughout the year, including a community event — to be determined — next spring. Students are considering a time capsule to store memorabilia and messages to future generations. They are in the early stages of planning, but “it’s going to be a big project,” Roley said.

About 100 years ago, Seaside, Gearhart and Cannon Beach each had their own district for elementary students, but educators and community members determined it would be best to start a high school run by a separate unified school district with its own board of directors. In November 1916, after several delays, the communities dedicated a recently finished $35,000 Union High School in Seaside.

“Seaside can well feel proud of this excellent educational building, and those instrumental in the building of this valuable adjunct to this great resort can feel highly elated at the result of their labors,” the Seaside Signal wrote Nov. 16, 1916.

Another Signal article described the new school would be “bigger in its enrollment” and “better in its equipment, broadened till it stands second to none in the county.”

J.W. Branstator was the principal at the time. Under his direction, the district planned to expand its curriculum so the caliber of Union High School would equal that of Astoria High School.

Union High School was located directly west of the current facility, along what is now North Holladay Drive. Some time in the 1950s, the district constructed a new building that became the core of the current high school.

That facility was added on to in 1962, increasing the capacity of the school to 600 students. A gymnasium large enough for two basketball courts and folding bleachers was a highlight of the upgrade.

Fast forward to now, as the school prepares for its 100th year of serving high school students in South County.

Roley, Assistant Principal Jeff Roberts and other staff members and teachers are preparing for the arrival of approximately 450 students for the 2015-16 school year.

Freshmen and new students will come the Tuesday after Labor Day, Sept. 8, for a program called Link Crew. Junior and senior crew leaders will show the new students around the school and put on several team-building exercises to help them get acclimated before the remaining students arrive Sept. 9.

“It’s a great transition program,” Roley said. Incorporated about 20 years ago, she added, it is “one of the most significant changes for setting a positive school climate we’ve ever made.”

Personally, Roley is entering her 30th year as an educator, and she said the “excitement and anticipation has never diminished one bit for me.”

“I anxiously await the arrival of the staff and kids each year,” she said.

Each year, she anticipates leading the high school into the future. Educators are never satisfied, she said, because “they know there is growth we can continue to make.”

‘Those instrumental in the building of this valuable adjunct to this great resort can feel highly elated at the result of their labors,’

Seaside Signal, Nov. 16, 1916

Seaside School District 10’s new staff

District:

Jeremy Catt, Director of Special Services

Carolyn Wells, Health specialist

David Oxley, Bus Driver

Krista Brown, Assistant Custodian for Gearhart Elementary and Broadway Middle schools

Gearhart Elementary School:

Beth Beatty, Special education assistant

Angela Chapman, Educational assistant

Michelle Lee, Educational assistant

Katie Resendiz-Higgins, English language development assistant

Jennifer Siems, Instructional assistant

Seaside Heights Elementary School:

Ann Brown, Math and reading teacher

Annette Campbell, Special needs assistant

Hannah Carr, Third-grade teacher

Sarah Leavitt, Special needs assistant

Patrick Meuer, Special needs assistant

Erin Miller, Kindergarten teacher

Elizabeth Moore-Mullen, Second-grade teacher

Toni Paino, Third-grade teacher

Katie Saso, Special education assistant

Ashleigh Sibley, Special needs assistant

Marcos Villegas, English language development

Broadway Middle School:

Laura Neal, Special education instructional assistant

Melissa Rigby, English language development teacher

Seaside High School:

Chad Clouse, Health and physical education teacher

Leeann Schmelzenbach, English teacher

Chad Smith, Special needs teacher

Renovations around the district

Gearhart Elementary School:

Resurfacing, re-striping and signage in parking lot

Roofing projects that included the gym, computer lab/music room and rooms 15 through 18

Seaside Heights Elementary School:

Resurfacing, re-striping and signage in parking lot (Scheduled for Saturday)

Broadway Middle School:

Upgrading one boys’ and one girls’ restroom (In progress)

One new roof pack (In progress)

Seaside High School:

New section of sidewalk on east side

New ramp on west side (portable buildings parking lot)

Installed a platform lift for access to band/music/stage areas

Installed platform lift for access to upper gym

Resurfacing, re-striping and signage in parking lots

Upgrading boys’ and girls’ restrooms throughout building (In progress)

District Office:

Repaving, resurfacing, re-striping and signage for ADA parking area.