Superintendent of Schools

Closing date: Feb 21, 2025

About Wahkiakum School District

Cathlamet (Kath-LAM-et), the County Seat of Wahkiakum County, is the second oldest town in Washington, was visited by Lewis and Clark on the “Voyage of Discovery” in 1805. Cathlamet is the home of the Wahkiakum School District, with students living in Cathlamet, Skamokawa, on Puget Island and “up the valleys.” Our community is a multi-generational group dating back to the 1850’s, crosscut with families who have more recently discovered the wonders of our corner of the world. Our community is known for clean air, clear water, abundant wildlife and healthy living, in a county without a single traffic light. The traditional industries of the area include fishing, farming and forestry which have preserved the rural beauty and a slower pace of life where people still stop on the street to genuinely ask how you are.

Cathlamet is perched on a rugged shoreline of the Columbia River in Wahkiakum County. When Lewis and Clark passed through the area in November 1805 the area was inhabited by the Wahkiakum People and spoke the Chinook language. As fur traders followed “The Voyage of discovery”, they brought trade as well as disease into the villages of the Wahkiakum, which decimated much of the tribe by the late 1830’s. James Birnie, a retired Hudson Bay Company employee, and his wife, Charlotte, brought their ten children to the village of Cathlamet in 1846, establishing a trading post which soon became a thriving business trading furs, fish and other foods. Charlotte Birnie, of Kootenai and French Canadian heritage contributed to good relations with the 300-400 local Wahkiakum who remained in the area, playing a critical role in

commerce and community relations. Rose Birnie, sister of James, arrived in Cathlamet in 1850 to teach her brother’s now twelve children and became Wahkiakum County’s first schoolteacher. She later married a former Hudson’s Bay clerk, George Roberts. Their home, built in 1857, is now known as the Julia Butler Hansen Heritage Center and is the oldest home in the community.

Wahkiakum School District is the epicenter of our community. Citizens not only look for us to provide an education for their children, but also to provide a community center for sports, clubs, and student- community interactions. Our four-day school week allows our students the opportunity to delve deeper into curricular areas for well-rounded academic achievements. Our district currently has 395 students K-12. We pride ourselves in knowing every student well, and take pride in growing programs that provide opportunities often found only in larger districts. We can boast 60,000 square feet of school gardens, just under a hundred acres of forest directly accessible to our students on our campus, a robust culture of clubs including our Robotics Club that recently took the honor of placing first in the International SeaPearch underwater Robotics Competition. Our high school offers Advance Placement and College in the High School courses. We have implemented time vertical integration ensuring our K-8 students are well prepared for high school. We also have a broad reaching exploratory CTE program that opens doors in Ag Science, Welding, and hands-on Natural Resource Management in our district- owned Farm Forest.