PRINEVILLE — Although she arrived less than a month ago, Crook County School District’s new superintendent, Sara Johnson, seems comfortable in her new location. In her east Prineville office, she’s become accustomed to the same two deer that pop by her window and stare at their new neighbor.

“They trim the bushes, too,” she joked.

Johnson, who replaced former Superintendent Duane Yecha on July 1, said she was pleased to land in a “good school district” and believes her role is to continue Crook County’s success in fields such as technology and math education.

“A lot of things have been started, so it’s about growing the things that are going well, but also filling in the gaps,” she said. “I think there’s an opportunity to move this school district to the next level of performance, service and to help prepare that next group of kids for their lives.”

Johnson, 57, began her educational career in 1991 as an elementary school teacher in her hometown of Burns, and she quickly learned to love working with students.

“It wasn’t like I thought about being a teacher from the time I was a little kid or something like that, but as I began to do it, I began to just become extremely passionate about it, and love the work and love the depth of what it takes to educate people,” she said.

After six years as a teacher, she was recruited to become the elementary school’s principal. She said this wasn’t her intent, but the ability to help more students intrigued her.

“It’s hard to leave the classroom because you love being in the classroom, but you realize there’s an opportunity that you can impact more kids,” she said.

This kick-started a long career as a school administrator for Johnson in districts throughout the Northwest, including six years as an elementary principal in McMinnville (where she was named a National Distinguished Principal for Oregon in 2007), four years as an assistant superintendent at Lincoln County School District on the Oregon Coast, three years as the superintendent of Sumner School District, in the Tacoma suburbs, and two years as the director of school improvement at Klamath County School District, where she worked before taking the Crook County position.

Johnson said she applied for the Crook County superintendent position because she “wanted something a little more engaging.” She’ll oversee a district with about 2,923 students and 400 employees. She moved to Prineville with her husband, Tom, while her two adult children, both nurses, live in Klamath Falls and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Johnson has one grandchild.

Johnson said she plans to stay the course with Crook County’s many initiatives and projects that were implemented or proposed before her arrival. For example, Wi-Fi is coming to school buses in the upcoming school year, which should allow students to complete homework on long drives to athletic events or back home. The project was funded by a $10,000 grant from Facebook in January.

The district is in the second year of the new Common Core math curriculum, which emphasizes understanding how math works, rather than memorizing concepts.

Johnson said there were no immediate plans for new schools, since the district built a new elementary school in 2015, although she’ll be keeping tabs on student growth.

“It’s actually a nice, slow incline in the (population) growth,” she said. “We’re eager to see what the enrollment is this fall and see how many kids show up.”

Johnson emphasized that her tenure will focus on individualized education for each student’s needs.

“We care about the achievement of every single kid, and we know students by name, by face, we know them by strength, and we also know them by need, and we provide whatever it is to be successful,” she said.

In general, Johnson was optimistic about Crook County School District’s future.

“I think this is a great opportunity and a great district to work in, a great district to go to school in. We’re excited about where we’re going.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7854;jhogan@bendbulletin.com