LONG CREEK – With only about a week down, the 2009-2010 year is under way at Long Creek School and with a new leader and one new staffer on board.

Roy Durfee took over the superintendent/principal’s post July 1. He succeeds Brian Gander, who took a job with the Jewell School District.

Durfee, a longtime Oregon resident, has broad experiences in school administration.

For the past 10 years Durfee worked for the Yamhill-Carlton School District, six years as principal for grades K-8 and four years as assistant superintendent of the district.

Earlier, he taught high school agriculture in Dayton, Enterprise and Joseph. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education from Oregon State University.

His wife, Karen, has a degree in animal science and managed a veterinary clinic while they lived in Wallowa County. She also does marketing and retail work in the fiber arts field.

They have two grown children, Michael, an engineering student at George Fox University, and Megan, an aviation management student at Rocky Mountain College, in Billings, Mont.

Among Durfee’s plans at Long Creek, with its low enrollment and small class sizes, are to further develop individualized instruction methods.

He pointed out that, compared to larger schools, the teachers have a lot more variety in their schedule and the students enjoy more creative, personal interactions.

Long Creek’s student-teacher ratio is 8:1, which Durfee said, “provides opportunities to really work with the kids individually.”

Enrollment at Long Creek this year is holding at about 50 in kindergarten through grade 12, plus four preschoolers.

The enrollment includes 28 high schoolers, eight of them foreign students, all boys this time.

Durfee said he is looking at implementing Oregon’s Credit by Proficiency policy at Long Creek. The policy allows students to show subject proficiency in other ways outside of the academic classroom, while still earning graduation credits, and better prepare for real-world careers while in high school.

Durfee added that the school is proceeding with its greenhouse and other agriculture plans begun last year, intending to benefit not only the school but the entire community.

Along those lines, Durfee said the school board has requested that more school activities involve the Long Creek community. One opportunity will be at an open house, the date to be announced, when a community band is slated to perform as a fund-raiser for the high school students’ anticipated trip to Europe next year.

“We want to send our kids there so they can see and experience where some of our foreign students have come from,” he said.

Physical changes at the school include a crisp, red and white paint job inside, as well as new lighting fixtures throughout.

Durfee said that the energy-efficient lighting will save at least $5,000 per year for the school. They hope that funding from the Oregon Department of Energy, Oregon Trail Electric and federal stimulus money will help them recoup the $50,000 cost.

Durfee and his wife are happy to be back on the “eastside.”

“Once our youngest graduated from high school last year, I started looking for a small district to move back to,” he said.

The couple enjoy camping and traveling vacations in their small RV, venturing to such places as Yellowstone and Canada. He also enjoys hunting and fishing.

“We love the outdoors,” Durfee said.

He considered one other school besides Long Creek, but is happy with the choice they made.

“This is a great little community.”

The other new face at school belongs to teacher Michael Polk.

Originally from Lincoln City and a long-time resident of the Salem-Keizer area, Polk arrived in early August.

He has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a master’s degree in teaching, both from Western Oregon University in Monmouth.

He also owned a mortgage business for five years, but had to close it when the poor economy set in.

At Long Creek, he teaches several subjects – history, language arts, math and Spanish – to grades 7 and 8, as well as two high school classes, Spanish and business.

He is also the middle school (boys and girls, grades 4-8) volleyball coach.

School only started Aug. 25, but his business class is already working on prospective pursuits.

In the practical, non-traditional class, the students, divided into groups, came up with three business ventures to develop: film editing, a donut shop and an online book store.

Over the coming weeks and months, according to Polk, they will seek investors, create business cards, and follow up on tax and licensing requirements, as they carry out their on-campus businesses.

Eastern Oregon will be a new adventure for his family, which includes wife, Jamie, and their children, preschooler Michelle, and first-grader, Aubrey, who attend Long Creek School.

But Polk said they enjoy outdoor activities, and are “looking forward to the snow.”

He’s bought a bow and is ready to get on with some hunting and fishing.

“We’re ready to participate in the community and get to know everyone,” he added.