School Staff

Chad Barkes is the new principal at Sprague High School. Barkes started his career in SKPS in 2000 as an instructional assistant at Swegle Elementary School. He earned his teaching degree with a focus on special education from Western Oregon University in 2003. After that, Barkes taught at West Salem High School in the special education department for several years, then moved into the role of special education program assistant for nine years. He has been serving at Sprague as an assistant principal/athletic director since 2015.

Clinton Gertenrich has worked his entire educational career for Salem-Keizer Public Schools and has been committed to building community at each of the schools he has served. He received his Master’s in teaching from Willamette University. He began as an instructional assistant at McKay High School, taught at Houck Middle School, and he started his administrative career as an assistant principal at North Salem High School in 2000. He then served as principal and educational leader at Candalaria, Auburn, and Schirle elementary schools. He has served at Sprague since 2019 as an assistant principal.

Jesse Clayton has been with SKPS for 12 years, most recently serving as an assistant principal at McKay High School. Previous to McKay, Jesse was part of the administrative team at Sprague in the role of curriculum assistant principal. Jesse has also been a middle school assistant principal at both Leslie Middle School and Claggett Creek Middle school, as well as an instructional coach at Waldo Middle School. Jesse’s educational career began with her serving as a high school English and AVID teacher.

Bio coming soon!

Jim Miller joined the Sprague Admin Team in 2021. Jim has been a part of Salem-Keizer Public Schools since 2001. He has served as a teacher, behavior specialist, assistant principal, and high school principal during that time. Prior to joining Sprague’s team, he served as an assistant principal in the EDGE program. Jim has also served in the Oregon Army National Guard since 1996. Jim has taken on the role of Athletic Director and Assistant Principal as of the 2023 School year.