Heather E. Yount

Heather Yount served as a middle school teacher and administrator prior to taking leadership of Fruitdale Elementary School five years ago, which has since transformed from a satisfactory rating on the Oregon State Report Card to an Oregon Model School—a high poverty school ranked in the top 5% of Title 1-A schools in the state. During this time, student performance scores outpaced state and comparison school averages by over 12% in both reading and math, and subgroup scores outpaced comparison school averages by 20%. Yount has worked with her team to develop strong support systems in reading and math, shoring up grade-level instruction with multi-tiered support, including regular teachers’ meetings to evaluate needs based on formative assessment scores. Yount has managed to cut discipline referrals in half by implementing a new universal PBIS program with clearly demonstrated behavioral expectations, as well as school-wide lessons addressing the social-emotional needs of students, all while promoting a cultural shift toward the belief that all students can learn. The program has also led to greater behavioral consistency among staff and teachers at Fruitdale for significant improvement in overall relationships. Yount has a B.S. in Psychology from Southern Oregon University, a MAT from Pacific University, and both Initial and Continuing Administrative Licenses from Portland State University.