Head of Puyallup private school named principal at Gig Harbor High School

Michele Suiter will be principal of Gig Harbor High School beginning in the 2020-21 school year, the Peninsula School District has announced.

She will replace Tom Leacy, who is retiring.

Suiter is the current principal of Cascade Christian High School in Puyallup. An educator for more than 30 years, she began as a fourth-grade bilingual Spanish teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She will begin at GHHS on July 1.

“In her interviews, and through her reference checks, it is clear that she is an outstanding leader with a passion for helping all students succeed,” said John Hellwich, PSD assistant superintendent, in a letter to parents on April 17.

Cascade Christian High School is part of a multi-campus private school system serving Puyallup and eastern Pierce County. It has three elementary schools, a junior high school and a high school, with about 1,300 students total. The high school graduates about 70 seniors, according to the CCS website.

Gig Harbor High School is the district’s second high school, opened in 1979. It has about 1,600 students and 65 teaching staff.

Leacy, the current GHHS principal, is retiring after 40 years in education, the last eight of them at Gig Harbor. He spent 19 years as a secondary special-education teacher and athletic coach, beginning his career at Elma Middle School, moved to Gault Junior High School in Tacoma, and then served 13 years at Lincoln High School.

He was athletic director for five years at Lincoln, where he also coached football, boys and girls basketball, and baseball.

This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 7:04 PM.