As Mark Haddock leaves the Kent School District, he’s leaving local schools on a more level playing field than when he arrived.

The assistant superintendent for learning and school improvement retired at the end of June from his district position and will take up a teaching job for the second time at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey. According to Superintendent Barbara Grohe, he has made the most of his six years with the district, working to improve opportunities for students and district-community collaboration.

“He’s been an outstanding contributor to our school district,” Grohe said. “His dedication to making sure that all children have a chance to succeed has shown itself through the curriculum and his work with the Alliance for Diversity and Equity. We’re going to miss him.”

Haddock has headed up the alliance for the past six years. It’s a committee of district employees and citizens, focused on equal opportunities for students and staff of all nationalities and backgrounds.

Alliance member Maya Vengadasalam, who first worked with Haddock to improve education conditions for Sikh students, said his commitment to the cause mirrors his commitment to his overall job.

Haddock stressed “that the entire district pay attention to cultural relevancy at all times, whether it is through translation/interpretation services, one-on-one meetings, parent forums with community members, or through dissemination of information at key meetings,” Vengadasalam wrote in her nomination of him for the Outstanding Achievement in Leadership at the Community/System Level Award that he won from SOAR, a local community group that focuses on helping children. “He has left a great legacy from which each one of us can learn and appreciate the beauty of our community.”

Haddock also recently won the Washington Association of School Administrators Student Achievement Leadership Award and the Kent Area Council PTA’s Outstanding Educator Award.

Haddock, 59, grew up in Oak Harbor, serving four years in the Navy before attending Western Washington University. He started his education career in Tonasket, Wash., teaching and counseling elementary and middle-school students and coaching high school wrestling.

Haddock said he got into education “to try and tap the potentials I see in people and bring those to fruition, especially those I see in children and young adults,” Haddock said. “The other part is that I enjoy being with children and young adults. You’re always learning with those young people who are always willing to ask you why.”

Haddock went on to earn a master’s degree at Whitworth University and a doctorate at the University of Washington in education psychology, becoming an education professor at Saint Martin’s, where he will return this fall to teach. He then shifted to administration, serving as an elementary principal and curriculum coordinator with the Olympia School District, the director of curriculum instruction for the University Place School District near Tacoma and the executive director of learning services for Bethel School District in Pierce County.

He started his Kent position in 2002. He said the “highlights” since then “center around developing greater equities of opportunity for all of our students and staff, and working with community agencies and other programs within the district to develop a more integrated approach to education. I enjoyed the diversity of the community that we serve.”

Marri Rieger, currently the director of high-school improvement, will step into his position next year.

“I leave Kent knowing that there are a tremendous number of people in the district and the community that are competent and caring, and I’ll miss those people,” Haddock said. “I believe the district is in a place where it can continue to move forward and become event stronger and greater than it is now.”

The Olympia resident plans to spend more time with his wife, son and grandchild. And, he said, “I have a tree house project planned with my granddaughter. We already have the tree picked out and everything.”

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