Leadership Update
Deena Alley - Dir. of HR Pathways & Leadership/Investigator
Welcome Deena Alley, Director of Human Recources - Pathways and Leadership/Investigator
The Yakima School District is proud to announce that Deena Alley will serve in the role of Director of Human Resources Pathways and Leadership/Investigator beginning July 1.
An Air Force veteran, Deena started her education while stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. She holds a B.S.E. in math and Spanish and an M.S.E. in education administration from the University of Central Missouri. She began her career in Missouri teaching high school math and her administrative career as a middle school assistant principal.
Moving back to her home state of Montana, Deena was the Director of Field Experiences for the School of Education at the University of Montana-Western for six years. At Western, she taught in the School of Education and was responsible for all field experience and student teaching placements and their supervision. She worked closely with schools across the country and internationally to help beginning teachers get the support they needed, as well as their first teaching job.
Moving to Washington, Deena became the Assistant and then Associate Principal at Shelton High School. As Associate Principal she was tasked with leading the team that created the Shelton Academies and supporting K-12 experiences for students. This role developed into the Director of Academies K-12 position. In this role, she partnered with schools, colleges, and community partners to bring career experiences to all students and create post-secondary partnerships in college and industry. Deena also served as the new teacher trainer for the district in the instructional framework and evaluation models. She has been responsible for many types of professional development for teachers and administrators in the areas of instruction, cultural competency, PLCs, and equity. Deena is a state Instructional Framework Specialist and an Equity in Your Framework trainer.
As a part of Shelton’s building-based recruiting model, Deena has been an integral part of the recruiting team each year for teachers and administrators. She also recruited collaboratively with Career and Technical Education to attract highly qualified personnel from industry to the teaching profession. She worked to support the Careers in Education program that prepares current high school seniors, with a focus on underrepresented populations, to take the Paraeducator Assessment so that they can gain employment with the school district and work toward teaching degrees.
Outside of work, Deena enjoys photography, singing, swimming, and many outdoor activities. She looks forward to this new adventure in the community of Yakima.