Community Education

New Gig Harbor High School principal promises ‘servant leadership, open door’

Posted on September 3rd, 2025 By: Christina T Henry

“Good morning! Welcome! Have a great first day of school!”

Incoming Gig Harbor High School Principal Bob Marshall fist-bumped students Wednesday morning, as a parade of cars and buses delivered their passengers. A gauntlet of cheerleaders and other students gave a boisterous welcome to their peers as they streamed through the front doors.

It’s a new school year, and Gig Harbor High School has an all-new leadership team.

New Gig Harbor High School Principal Bob Marshall fist bumps a student on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, the first day of school for Peninsula School District. Photo by Christina T. Henry

Marshall, former principal of North Kitsap High School, replaces Michele Suiter, who took leave from the district in April and has moved to Nebraska to be closer to family. Interim Principal Lillian Hunter-Ebersole stepped in for the remainder of last school year.

Incoming assistant principals Brandon Bakke and Tori Fairweather are also new to the district. The new administration at GHHS is part of a district-wide shuffle in leadership at multiple schools.

Marshall, in an interview on Aug. 25, said Gig Harbor High is already known for high academic achievement and strong ties to the community. He hopes under his leadership it will be known as a place where everyone feels welcome.

“I’m just excited to have the kids excited,” he said. “I want them to come in and feel like this is their place, this is their school.”

Cheerleaders and other students greet their peers for the first day of school on Sept. 3, 2025, at Gig Harbor High School. Photo by Christina T. Henry

Leadership style

Marshall describes himself as a servant leader.

“I really believe that in order to lead effectively, I have to lead by example, and I’m very relational,” he said. “One of our biggest initiatives under the leadership that I choose is belonging, helping people understand that they belong.”

Creating a culture of belonging calls for nurturing relationships day in, day out, he said.

“It’s very intentional. It takes a lot of work,” Marshall said. “Like I tell people all the time — and I’ve worked with kids and counsel staff members, too — and anybody who’s married knows this, relationships are hard work. Like once you start giving up on a relationship, don’t expect that relationship to last. And so, one of the things we’ll have to do over and over and over again is help students realize that we desire to have that relationship.”

Career path leads home

Marshall and his wife Jodi met at Pacific Lutheran University in 2002. The couple began their teaching careers in in a small Yup’ik community on the Bering Sea. After three years, they moved back to the Pacific Northwest, where Marshall taught social studies at Shelton High School and for one year (2008-09) at Peninsula High School.

Gig Harbor High School Principal Bob Marshall wishes happy birthday to a student on the first day of school on Sept. 3, 2025. Photo by Christina T. Henry

Meanwhile, he had earned his administrative credential. In 2009, it was back to Alaska, where he served as an assistant principal and later principal of a school serving pre-K through high school in the Lower Yukon School District. He later served as principal of Ketchikan Charter School for three years and Ketchikan High School for four years.

In 2019, the couple moved back to Washington. Marshall was assistant principal of North Kitsap High School and became principal last year. Jodi teaches at Marcus Whitman Junior High in South Kitsap.

Marshall, a Gig Harbor resident, had been looking to find work in the community where he lives when the job at Gig Harbor High opened up.

“I’m just really excited to have this opportunity,” he said. “I mean, I love my community, and I love to get to serve. So, what better way than to be the principal?”

Welcoming and inclusive

Marshall’s intent is to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment at Gig Harbor High.

“I can tell you that what I hear from students at every high school that I’ve been to, that high schools right now need to work on that,” Marshall said. “So, that’s one of those things that I really want to make sure that, as we work toward our belonging piece here at Gig Harbor High School, that we do focus on those students that might feel like they’re on the fringes.”

Students exit the bus on the first day of school, Sept. 3, 2025, at Gig Harbor High School. Photo by Christina T. Henry

As in other schools where he’s worked, Marshall will convene different student focus groups, drawing on diverse voices and focusing on specific topics. He said having an all-new administration presents an invitation to reach out to students and hear what belonging and inclusion look like to them.

“What a cool opportunity, then, to prove to them that we love them, we care about them. We want them to be here. We care about what they have to say,” Marshall said. “I’m really hoping that we can show them, just, some joy.”

Playbook to tackle bullying

Hiring Marshall, with his focus on belonging, was a strategic move on the part of Peninsula School District, said Communications Coordinator Danielle Chastaine. The district last year took an in-depth look at harassment, intimidation and bullying, public complaints about which have dogged the district over the past couple of years.

Peninsula is beefing up staff training on how to recognize and respond to bullying. Key to that training, said Marshall, is giving teachers and other employees a consistent playbook to deal with bullying as it occurs. He wants employees to know he and the assistant principals have their backs in addressing uncomfortable situations or making hard calls.

“We do have some work that we’re going to do about basically stopping it in the moment and addressing the behavior right away,” Marshall said. “Giving teachers the tools to know how to respond to those situations.”

‘We hear you’

A common complaint within the district and beyond is that bullying gets reported but nothing is done.

Marshall wants students who are subject to bullying to know they’ve been heard. While privacy laws prevent disclosure of some specifics of student punishment or consequences, he’ll make sure teachers and administrators are closing the loop to let students and families know they acted.

“Our students specifically are going to get the support they need when they know that they’ve been addressed in a way that’s derogatory and inappropriate and inflammatory,” he said. “They need to know that they’re safe. It goes back to the whole safety, belonging piece.”

New Gig Harbor High School Principal Bob Marshall fist bumps a student on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, the first day of school for Peninsula School District. Photo by Christina T. Henry

And when restorative justice is warranted, he and his staff will use that as a tool. He’ll also be working with students to promote constructive conversations about bullying.

“How do we bring the kids together?” he said. “How do we figure out civility?”

Respecting culture

As a teacher in Alaska, Marshall learned that, for Yup’ik students, looking someone in the eye is a sign of disrespect. Imagine how that would go over if a teacher were to say, “All eyes on me.”

Throughout his career, Marshall has developed cultural respect for the communities and subgroups in schools where he’s worked.

“Same thing needs to happen here,” he said.

Marshall recognizes that bias still exists in schools everywhere and that slurs are made.

“Even up in Alaska, you’re still running into people who still have negative things to say about Native Alaskans, and you’re thinking, ‘Wait, these people have been here way longer than we have, so why are we still having these conversations?’ he said.

Marshall said it’s also important to learn about and celebrate diverse cultures. He met with the Black Student Union during their Juneteenth celebration and was pleasantly surprised by how well the event was received by the student body at large.

His door is open

Just as students need a sense of belonging, ‘the same thing goes for staff,” Marshall said. “They have to feel like this is a place where they can work. It can be a family of sorts.”

He wants to be accessible to teachers and other staff members.

“I’ve already shared with our staff that if I’m in here in my office, my door is always open (unless I have to make a private phone call),” he said.

He’ll be out and about visiting classrooms as much as he can, not for surveillance, but to support the teachers and other staff, as well as getting to know the students.

He also wants families and community members to feel a sense of belonging.

“I want our community, when they walk in our doors or come to our functions, to realize that this is our school. This is the community school,” he said. “This is the place where we all feel like we’re welcome.”

Gig Harbor High School students greet each other on the first day of school, Sept. 3, 2025 Photo by Christina T. Henry