News & Information

Jeff Coulter, current Whatcom Middle School principal, was named as Columbia Elementary principal and Whatcom planning principal effective this fall at the Feb. 25 School Board meeting.

As principal of Columbia, Coulter will have the opportunity to work closely with future Whatcom students and families as he plans for the re-opening of Whatcom.  Once Whatcom re-opens, Coulter will return to Whatcom as principal.

Current Columbia principal Missy Ferguson will be principal of Lowell Elementary when it re-opens this fall.  Ann Buswell, current assistant principal of Whatcom, will move on an interim basis -- until she returns to Whatcom -- to an open school administrator position to be determined later this spring.

"I'm excited to join the Columbia Elementary School community and to continue the good work accomplished under Missy Ferguson's leadership," Coulter says.  "In addition, working as the planning principal for a renewed Whatcom Middle School will make provision for continuity, vital to an effective restart at Whatcom in a few short years."

Coulter has been principal of Whatcom since fall 2002 and was recently selected by the Washington Library Media Association as Middle School Principal of the Year and Northwest Region Middle Level Principal of the Year.  Previously, he was assistant principal of Blaine Middle School, interim principal of Blaine Primary School and an elementary, middle and high school teacher.  He earned his master's degree from Eastern Washington University and his bachelor's from Western Washington University.