Neah-Kah-Nie High School Home of the Pirates!

Dr. Heidi Buckmaster
Principal

August 1, 2022

Neah-Kah-Nie Pirates, Family, Community and Friends;

Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year! 

We are looking forward to a great year.  For athletics and activities, NKN has moved to 3A for competition with the exception of football which will remain at 2A for the time being.  We are expecting about 270 students in grades 9-12.   The  senior class (74) will be our largest class followed by the juniors (69) , the freshmen (69) and our smallest class, the sophomores (55).

Our staff is a dedicated and student focused group of professionals committed to providing a learning space focused on Safety and Wellness, Connection and Relationships, Equity, Effective and Engaging Instruction.

We keep upgrading our facilities especially in our career and technical education programs.  This year we are excited about a major renovation of our construction trades space which features a mini lab where students can learn electrical, plumbing, hvac and other trade skills.  

We are also excited to reopen and expand our business and foreign language programs and welcome the new teachers hired to teach these courses.  We are looking forward to building stronger connections with our community to provide internship opportunities for our students.

Offering an increasing number of dual credit opportunities is a priority for us.  Last year even in a pandemic we had more students than ever before earning college credits.  This was in large part due to Tillamook Bay Community College offering those credits for free!  We also celebrated two more students who earned an Associate of Arts Degree as high school seniors!  It is never too early to begin working for and planning for future success.  Please investigate our scholarship link which will help families locate the many amazing opportunities both in our community and available to larger audiences to help finance future educational goals.

All students at the high school have access to a wide variety of supports that include teaching staff facilitated study hall and tutoring, online grade monitoring (StudentVUE and ParentVUE), academic, college, career and social counseling, student forums on topics of student interest and concerns, and professional counseling services in partnership with Tillamook Family Counseling Center and Rinehart Clinic.  We are continuing our partnership with SafeOregon.  If you see or hear about bullying, violence, drugs, or harm to students, staff or school, please report a tip using the SafeOregon link provided on this page. 

There are many factors that contribute to student success: Supportive involved adult role models, regular attendance, physical and emotional health, a growth mindset, a well-balanced nutritional and electronic diet, 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep and a quiet, distraction free place to do schoolwork are keys to ensuring students are ready to learn each day.  The staff is committed to building strong, positive relationships with students and strong family engagement to develop the character traits and skills students need to thrive in life.

We hope every student will be meaningfully engaged in healthy physical and academic pursuits.  Course fees and “pay-to-play” fees have been eliminated to encourage participation in a greater variety of classes and activities by all students.  We hope to see our programs bursting at the seams with students successfully utilizing our amazing facilities.

The NKN HS staff invite you to participate, provide feedback and help us make sure that every effort put forth results in healthy, responsible and productive students ready to make a positive impact on our world.

Sincerely, 

Dr. Heidi Buckmaster, Principal

Ryan Keefauver, Assistant Principal

503-355-2272