Mountain View Christian School’s school board is pushing forward to open the school this fall following turmoil with a former staffer.

Leaders with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in western Washington, which oversees the school at 255 Medsker Road, announced they’ve hired new teaching principal Michelle Noonan who has 12 years experience in education in the Carolinas and in Florida.

She follows former principal and teacher Douglas John Allison, who faces 24 years in prison at his sentencing on Sept. 14 in Clallam County Superior Court after he pleaded guilty on Aug. 4 to two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of first-degree rape of a child against two students. Allison was arrested March 29 after a Clallam County Sheriff’s Office investigation, which began March 23. He was placed on leave and eventually fired.

Mountain View will begin the school year as a one-teacher school with the option of adding an additional new teacher depending on enrollment, said Archie Harris, superintendent of schools for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in western Washington.

The school board and parents are working with Noonan’s moving schedule before setting the school start date, Harris said.

He added that “enrollment is looking for positive for the new school year” and the number is officially reported three weeks after school begins.

Noonan was offered the position after an interview and background screening and a network of parents and church volunteers from Sequim Seventh-day Adventist church, who also were screened, are planned to provide additional school programming support through the school year.

Noonan said she’s looking forward to parents and volunteers being in her classroom because they add another perspective to the classroom.

“I plan to encourage regular dialogue, communication and interaction with parents,” she said. “Plus, I look forward to connecting volunteers with specific interests with school and student needs.”

Harris said student safety is paramount for the school.

“We want to keep our students, faculty, activities, facilities and equipment safe,” he said. “Adventist Christian Education is hallmarked by the school, church and home working together to provide quality academic, spiritual and life education for students.”

Noonan will teach all elementary grades at the school, Harris said.

She holds experience in teaching in a small school environment.

“I love the whole family feel of a small school,” Noonan said. “I’m looking forward to meeting school families and working with parents to provide a safe learning environment for their children.”

Noonan and her husband, Scotland, a computer technician, have a positive first impression of Sequim.

“We love how this is a small community that is so close to nature,” Noonan said.

“It’s a beautiful community and we look forward to getting better acquainted with what the Sequim community has to offer.”

Western Washington is home to 20 elementary and secondary schools that are operated by the Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, headquartered in Federal Way.

Contact the school at 683-6170.

Case background

Allison and his wife Judy Allison were hired to work at Mountain View Christian School, a small private school in August 2013. Allison served as principal and taught grades 4-8 while his wife taught kindergarten through third grade. Judy no longer works at the school.

His sentencing is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, in Superior Court at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles. He is being held in Clallam County Jail on $100,000 bail.

Allison previously had pleaded, on April 1, not guilty to eight counts of first-degree child molestation and four counts of first-degree rape of a child.

In his statement on Aug. 4, Allison admitted to sexual contact and intercourse with the female victims, then 10 and 11 years old, starting in September 2015 during classes while other students studied.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.