Joe LaFountaine figures that the only thing he has not done in public education is drive a school bus.
LaFountaine will use his decades of experience as an educator as Days Creek’s new superintendent. His name is pronounced La-FAWN-tain, but he goes by ‘Mr. L” to students.
After a failed search for a permanent superintendent last spring, a posting for an interim superintendent drew LaFountaine out of retirement.
“I joke with people that I failed retirement,” LaFountaine said. “I was driving my wife nuts. She told me ‘you’ve got to get back to work, even if it’s at Bi-Mart.’ I was looking for something at a smaller school like Camas Valley or Yoncalla or Days Creek and this opportunity presented itself. I’ve still got a lot of gas in the tank.”
LaFountaine is no stranger to the area. He was born 6 ½ miles upriver of Tiller in the 1950s before his family moved to Winston.
It was there that LaFountaine gained an appreciation for community involvement.
“My upbringing was such that my mom raised all four of us kids on her own,” he said. “Something that I remember vividly was when me and my brother were in Little League, we’d have games in different places.
“I’d be in Lookingglass and my older brother would have a game in Tenmile, but the community would always find a way for my mom to make it to both games, even though she didn’t drive,” LaFountaine added. “The way the community helped out [me and my family] had a big impression on me.”
LaFountaine has taught social studies, English, health and PE, mostly at Winston Middle School, where he eventually became principal.
He has also been an elementary, middle and high school principal at various cities across Oregon. LaFountaine retired from a position with Portland Public Schools where he was in charge of academic progress for more than 15,000 students.
LaFountaine said he excelled at that job, but is looking forward to having more positive interactions with students.
In Portland “the only time I talked to students was when they were getting expelled,” he said.
LaFountaine said that his goals as interim superintendent are to:
- Build better communication with the school board
- Use a state seismic grant this school has been awarded to improve our buildings
- Raise student achievement
“I want to improve things,” LaFountaine said. “I had opportunities beyond Winston Middle School is because I’ve learned to do that without causing pain. My goal is to help everybody here be more successful.”
As an interim, LaFountaine’s contract runs for one year, but it could be a longer stint.
“I’ll be here as long as they’ll have me,” LaFountaine said. “I’m doing this because I want to do this.”
