And another principal announcement: David Dockendorf leaving Pathfinder K-8 after 22 years

| Pigeon Point | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Thanks for the tips. After we published news earlier of the principal change at Genesee Hill Elementary and the next principal announced for Chief Sealth IHS, we learned of another West Seattle school with a change at the top announced today: Longtime principal David Dockendorf is leaving Pathfinder K-8 on Pigeon Point. Here’s what district superintendent Denise Juneau sent to the Pathfinder community:

I am pleased to announce Dr. Britney Holmes as the next principal of Pathfinder K-8. Dr. Holmes will be replacing Principal David Dockendorf, who is retiring at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

Dr. Holmes was selected through a rigorous process which included multiple interviews with central office staff, including school-based interview teams, and was interviewed and selected by Superintendent Juneau based on her demonstrated experience building coalitions among multiple stakeholder groups, championing a vision of anti-racist practice and social justice in schools, and maintaining systems to provide and maintain high levels of academic rigor.

Dr. Holmes’ most recent experience at Hazel Wolf K-8 aligns with the school’s stakeholders’ vision and commitment to championing and acting on a vision of equity and cultivating instructional expertise. Dr. Holmes will begin as principal starting July 1, 2021.

Please join me in thanking Principal Dockendorf for his service to Pathfinder, and welcoming Principal Holmes.

Dockendorf is West Seattle’s longest-serving principal – the Pathfinder website says he’s led the school since 1999. Dr. Holmes is currently assistant principal at Hazel Wolf, which is in northeast Seattle.

Barb Vadakin April 10, 2021 (9:17 am)

Congratulations David!!! I enjoyed my encounters with you and loved watching your interactions with young people. Enjoy the next phase of life, hope to see you out and about.

Pamela Rogers April 10, 2021 (10:05 am)

Seems like yesterday when it was David’s rookie year at Alki! Best of luck on your new endeavors!

SRC April 10, 2021 (10:12 am)

Pathfinder has been a great experience with David at the helm. Parents and kids adore him. Congratulations David you will be greatly missed.

LisaS April 10, 2021 (10:22 am)

Big congrats to David on his retirement – well deserved!!!

Kayo April 10, 2021 (12:32 pm)

Best wishes to David on his well-deserved retirement. PFK8 was fortunate to have him at the helm for so long.

Ned Nederlander April 10, 2021 (5:51 pm)

David’s great. Good for him, but a big loss.Also, I’m pretty sure this was announced at least a couple months ago.

WSB April 10, 2021 (6:08 pm)

May have been, but this was the first we’d heard. The district does not alert the mediq about principal changes any more, so unless we hear directly from a principal (which was the case with GHES principal Gerrit Kischner’s departure) or members of the school community, we have no way of knowing. Thanks again to everyone over the years who has sent news tips – school news is important to the wider community beyond students and staff! We had a lot of great parent tipsters at PF when we got started in the late ’00s, but they have long since moved on … TR