Superintendent Vince Swagerty has served students since 1985 as a teacher, principal, and superintendent.  He graduated from Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon and then earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon in 1985 and his master’s degree from Portland State University in 2000.  He returns to the North Bend School District having served as the North Bend Middle School principal from 2007-2009.  Most recently, he led the Mitchell School District in eastern Oregon for five years from 2018-2023.  His wife, Valerie, is a long-time school employee serving as an educational assistant for most of her career and then as an administrative assistant in Mitchell.  His daughter, Melissa, is a 2009 North Bend graduate who currently is an educational assistant in the Wilsonville High School special education department.  His son, Matthew, recently finished his Speech Pathology program at Idaho State University and completing his clinical fellowship to obtain his Speech Pathology CCC.

Please call the North Bend District office at (541) 756-2521 or email mbrix@nbend.k12.or.us to setup a meeting.

Superintendent Report

September 2024

Preparation for the New School Year

Monday, August 26th, saw the return of all staff to begin the process of starting the 2024-2025 school year and it was a wonderful day.  The morning started out with an excellent breakfast provided by our food service department.  Thanks to Amey Moldt and her staff for their work to make the morning special.  It is our tradition to have our marching band, directed by Amber Yester, join us and play the national anthem as well as our high school fight song to cap off the breakfast.  Then, we moved to the middle school gymnasium where I welcomed everyone and then, after introductions of key people and our new staff in each school, we invited former teacher Steve Greif to the podium and he shared a brief history of students who graduated from North Bend who led lives of greatness.  Tim Crider then shared some thoughts regarding educators being a source of light for our students.  I followed up with a message to all of our staff that they have an impact on students every single day. 

The remaining part of the week has included specific professional development provided by the curriculum department regarding the use of interim assessments as well as a deep dive into data from each of the schools.  The building principals have also had the opportunity to host school staff meetings as they address the needs of each building in their preparation for the new year. Of course, the teachers and staff members will have the opportunity to spend time preparing their classrooms for the new year so that everyone will be ready on Wednesday, September 4th when the buses begin dropping off students for the first day of school.

Athletics

Practice began for each of our teams on August 19th and our first game of the year are happening a week earlier than we typically see.  We are hosting our first athletic events prior to the first day of school with a home football game on Friday, August 30th.  The volleyball team is in a tournament at Marshfield that same day and our cross country teams travel to Western Oregon University for a meet.  The soccer teams have a jamboree on Thursday the 29th (girls at home and the boys at Marshfield) and then they play their first regular season matchup on September 3rd.  Remember, our athletic calendar can be found on the district website.

Preschool

Preparations are well underway for the beginning of our Bitty Bulldogs preschool at North Bay.  The positions have been posted and are in the process of being filled and the classroom furniture and equipment has arrived and will be set up very soon.  All 18 students have been selected and several have already submitted their registration materials. We are excited to have our bitty bulldogs on campus by the end of September.

Christ Lutheran Closure/Impact

We were very surprised to hear about the recent decision to close Christ Lutheran School for the 24-25 school year.  North Bend School District has a long history of working collaboratively with our local private schools and it saddens us that a local educational option for families will no longer be available.  We are monitoring our registration and enrollment numbers and it seems like there is an uptick that is likely due to the closure.  We are following the numbers closely since it could have an impact on the number of inter-district transfers we can take in our effort to not let elementary class sizes become too large. Additionally, we are hoping that their excellent staff members find positions in the local education systems.  We hired one of their staff members as a check in/check out assistant at Hillcrest and we are happy to have her onboard.

Navigating a successful course for every student, every day, every way
1913 MEADE STREET • NORTH BEND. OREGON 97459-3432
Phone: (541) 756-2521 • Fax: (541) 756-1313
Superintendent Vince Swagerty