When Kelley Watson steps into a classroom or community meeting in Chimacum, she’s not just leading innovative programs, she’s connecting decades of local knowledge, partnerships, and heart for Jefferson County. As both Career and Technical Education (CTE) Director and Principal of the Pi Program, Kelley exemplifies what it means when locals lead.
After working around North and South America for Outward Bound, Kelley moved to Marrowstone Island in 1997. Joining this culture of maritime work, outdoor learning, and close-knit community on the Olympic Peninsula, Kelley has built her career on supporting and encouraging young people to find purpose and pathways. Before joining Chimacum School District, she founded the Girls Boat Project and launched maritime CTE programs at Port Townsend High School and West Sound Skills Center. These experiential initiatives converged hands-on learning with empowerment and belonging. Her ongoing collaborations with the Northwest Maritime Center, Jefferson Healthcare, and OWL360 have created enduring bridges between young people and desirable careers.
Kelley’s educational leadership is marked by collaboration and care. Her deep relationships across East Jefferson County allow her to weave together schools, employers, and nonprofits into a shared ecosystem of opportunity. Colleagues describe her as innovative, grounded, and deeply invested in youth and willing to dive into new ideas and complex challenges in service of kids.
As CTE Director/Pi Principal, Kelley carries that same dedication and innovative spirit into her work at Chimacum. Through her leadership, programs such as Chimacum Valley Tech (CVT) featuring construction trades, culinary arts, and healthcare pathways – have grown to provide students with meaningful, real-world learning experiences. She is also expanding collaborations with local businesses to develop new work-based learning and paid internship opportunities for students. These new learning pathways ensure that students can connect their education to a future right here at home by sparking their imagination for meaningful lives and work after graduation. Kelley has built the local networks that rely heavily on trust, respect, and follow through she has cultivated.
About her time in Chimacum, Kelley says, "I am thrilled to be working with the Chimacum School District. It is exciting to be building Career Connected Learning opportunities that I know will directly translate into opportunities for our students and a thriving future for Jefferson County. We are stronger together and I am so happy to be working in our community on behalf of young people and our future! I am grateful for this opportunity, for this place, and for our community!"
In a district defined by its Purpose, to be a caring community for courageous learners, Kelley Watson embodies that promise. Her work reminds us that when locals lead with vision and heart, small communities grow stronger, and students’ horizons grow broader.