District names Long new MLHS principal

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake High School has a new principal, at least for the next year — current Assistant Principal Jake Long.

“It is both an honor and a privilege to continue working in a leadership capacity at Moses Lake High School,” Long said in a news release issued by the district.

“It’s the people in the building that makes the high school such a special place to work,” Long continued. “Our staff is fantastic to work with and our students are truly the best around.”

“These are the reasons why I am looking forward to my new position and the future at MLHS,” he said.

Long has a long history working as an assistant principal, dean, and teacher in Moses Lake, as well as elsewhere in Washington.

The former principal of Moses Lake High School, Mark Harris, resigned two weeks ago after he and the district came to a mutual agreement that his skills were not the best fit for the future of MLHS and the district as it begins to build a second high school.

Long has been brought as a kind of interim principal, according to incoming Superintendent Josh Meek, and the district will conduct a full principal search later in the school year.

“Having an opening for a high school principal in June in an unusual position for us,” Meek said. “There were a lot of careful considerations to make.”

Meek said Long has proven that he knows the Moses Lake community and has proven his leadership abilities during his time at MLHS, things the district said it wanted when it started looking for Harris’ replacement.

“He’s obviously interested in the position at this time, and this gives him an opportunity to explore. The leap from assistant principal to principal is a big one, and he gets a chance to make sure its the right fit for his skills set,” Meek said.

The district also said that Triscia Hochstatter, the current assistant director of teaching and learning, will serve as MLHS’s assistant principal for the coming school year.