Dr. Anne Erwin loves Beaverton High School. From her involvement in festive assemblies to community events to ordinary announcements, it’s clear that Dr. Erwin’s passion is education. 

“It’s the students, staff, it’s the everyday. It’s being with people, watching people do what they love, whether it’s teach or learn or be on a sports team or do drama or choir or be on The Hummer,” said Dr. Erwin. “You get to watch people do what they really love.”

After ten years as principal, Dr. Erwin is retiring from Beaverton High School, ‘graduating’ with the class of 2022. Her job will go to Andrew Kearl, principal of Twality Middle School in the Tigard-Tualatin School District. 

Dr. Erwin started her educational career at Hillsboro High School. She taught social studies for 25 years and was a vice principal for four years before moving to North Eugene High School and serving as principal there for two years. For the past decade, she has been Beaverton High School’s principal.

 “When I got here, I right away realized this was going to be a wonderful place,” said Erwin. “I could stay here until I retired. I knew that very, very quickly. It was an easy place to fall in love with and to stay for 10 years.”

Those past ten years, especially the last two, haven’t been easy as the school navigated a year of distance learning and even a fire in January 2020 that heavily impacted student leadership. Despite these obstacles, Erwin’s focus has always been on encouraging student success. Whether it was providing Success Fund resources or building a new Wellness Lab, the focus was always on progress, moving forward.

“I could never have imagined a more involved and engaged principal,” said sophomore Kyle Hanson. “Dr. Erwin has impacted so many lives at BHS and commits 110% to everything she does.” 

Post-retirement, Dr. Erwin has plans for her own future. 

“I’m pretty sure I will not succeed at fully retiring and doing nothing,” she said.  Instead, she is considering working on the boards of a few non-profits and doing more teaching at University of Portland, and she intends to “travel and relax a little bit.” 

What Erwin is most excited about is her new role in building Beaverton’s future: the district has hired her as a consultant on the design of the new Beaverton High School. For Erwin, it’s an opportunity to stay connected to the community she has spent the past ten years with. The core values instilled in students: community, tradition, excellence and learning, are values close to Erwin’s heart. 

“I’ll still be around. I love this school. I can’t just leave and shut the door and throw the keys to somebody,” she said. “This place, it gets into your being, and you want to continue to be a part of it. I know the future for this place is aspirational.”