Meet Kate

When someone asks Kate Barker how many children she has she replies, “Five hundred, plus two”. As well as having two children of her own, Kate is currently the principal of Cherry Park Elementary in Portland, Oregon. She has been an educator for the past 29 years, all in the David Douglas School District which is located in an urban setting. Kate has spent her career dedicated to supporting and learning from her community. She has been a fourth and fifth-grade teacher and a district office leader in charge of Title I, Early Childhood, and K-12 Language Arts. In the past seventeen years, she has lovingly served as a principal at three different buildings. In her current building, she works with a diverse and vibrant community of preschool-fifth grade students. Seventy-five percent of the families live below the poverty line and 28 different languages are spoken. Many of her students are steeped in trauma whose basic needs are not met. And yet, Cherry Park Elementary students consistently outperform state averages. She holds a master’s in Special Education and is a champion for building a culture for including all students and families. She believes that everything starts with a genuine relationship and connections and high expectations are at the core of her community’s success.