PENDLETON — Melissa Sandven’s three-year tenure as the principal of Pendleton High School is coming to an end.

At a Monday, March 8, meeting, the Pendleton School Board is set to approve Sandven’s resignation, which will go into effect June 30.

Sandven said she enjoyed her time in Pendleton, but with most of her family located west of the Cascades, she felt like she needed to return to the west side of Oregon.

“I couldn’t go another year away from them,” she said.

Sandven was hired to lead Pendleton High School in 2018 following a lengthy career in school administration.

After getting her start in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sandven had administrative stints at schools across the Willamette Valley, including schools in Portland, Gresham and Sandy. She was the principal of Rainier Junior/Senior High School in Columbia County when she was selected to lead PHS.

Sandven said she will miss working with the high school staff and the 8-minute commute to work that contrasted heavily with her commutes in the valley. But overall, she was proud of her time in Pendleton.

When she first arrived at Pendleton High School, Sandven said the school often felt siloed, with teachers in each department tending to congregate and collaborate only among themselves. She began having teachers meet with their peers in other departments, a move she said led to more trust and camaraderie among the faculty.

Sandven said some of the changes administration was making to school culture were beginning to bear fruit, but the COVID-19 pandemic “threw a wrench” into the school’s progress.

Still, Sandven praised teachers for continuing to work from their classrooms once most educational activities moved online, and staff’s work to bring back students sooner than many other schools across the state.

Pendleton High School will expand its in-person offerings on March 29, when Pendleton’s secondary schools begin their “hybrid” schedule. After announcing her departure, Sandven said she reassured her staff that she would work “24/7” for the Pendleton School District until her contract ends in June.

The district is already advertising the principal position, which will have a yearly salary of $125,566.

According to the job ad, the district is hoping to attract an experienced candidate for the position. Preferred qualifications for applicants include seven years of classroom teaching and five years of experience in public school administration. Whoever is hired will also be the principal of Hawthorne Alternative High School, an alternative school that has struggled with low graduation rates.

Superintendent Chris Fritsch will have the final say in who replaces Sandven, and he’ll be looking for someone with “outstanding communication” skills and a comprehensive knowledge of school operations.

“This is going to be a great opportunity for somebody,” he said.

The application period will end on April 2 and Fritsch said he hopes to identify their top candidate for principal by May 1.