Doug Hostetter has spent nearly half his life working at Kentwood High School but he is stepping down as principal June 30 to take on a new role as director of high schools for the Tacoma School District.

Hostetter, who has spent his entire career at Kentwood, with the exception of two years that he spent as the vice principal at Auburn High School, will begin his new position on July 1.

For Hostetter, a career in education almost didn’t happen. Growing up his mom thought he would make a good teacher, but he had his sights set on medical school.

“She always told me, ‘You’ll be such a good teacher.’ And I blew her off,” Hostetter said with a laugh.

Hostetter was a science major at Pacific Lutheran University when he was asked to coach a high school summer league basketball team.

“That’s when I fell in love with working with kids,” Hostetter said. “In education you have to like kids.”

His new duties in Tacoma will include overseeing the district’s five comprehensive and three alternative high schools.

“It’s a very diverse district,” Hostetter said. “It’s a school district that is very rich in tradition. I’m excited to get to Tacoma because of its tradition and its community support.”

Hostetter has been the principal at Kentwood for 14 years. Prior to that was his brief stint in Auburn, and before that he taught biology and earth science at Kentwood.

“(That’s) nearly half my life at Kentwood,” Hostetter said. “It’s a place I’ll surely miss.”

This spring Hostetter is finishing his doctorate of education through Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

“Not to sound old, but I’ve got a lot of good years left in me,” Hostetter said. “I’m ready for a new challenge…it’s just time.”

In addition to his duties as principal, over the past several years Hostetter has attended classes at the New Jersey campus – spending part of his summer breaks and one weekend every other month back East.

“I chose (Seton Hall) because I wanted to expose myself to some different thinking,” Hostetter said. “Its been good for me.”

Hostetter said he is extremely proud of the accomplishments of Kentwood students and staff during his time there. Just a few of the accomplishments Hostetter cited were the 2012 Washington state achievement awards the school won for math and closing the achievement gap, 13 state championships in sports over the past 14 years, the success of clubs at their state competitions, and a Kentwood educator named Washington state teacher of the year.

“The school is a great school because of the staff and students,” Hostetter said. “I can’t say enough about the community here.”

One of the things Hostetter loves most about his job is the connection he gets to make with students.

“If anything concerns me in this new step, it is being one more step removed from students,” he said.

Hostetter said he plans to combat that by spending as much time as he can at the schools.

“One thing I enjoy about being a principal is you never get old,” Hostetter said. “It keeps you young.”

One of the biggest challenges that Tacoma, and other districts around the state, will face will be aligning with the new Common Core standards that are set to go in effect next school year, according to Hostetter.

Hostetter said he will be focused on figuring out how to help students achieve the new standards and on closing the achievement gap, a problem for which he feels his time at Kentwood will be particularly helpful.

“How can I replicate what we’ve done here at Kentwood across the Tacoma School District,” Hostetter said.

While he may not have the answer yet, he’s got years of experience — almost half his life — at Kentwood to fall back on in Tacoma.