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Sporting winged eyeliner, spunky style and a disarming grin, Assistant Principal Ashley Cooper is taking Summit High School by storm. Brand new and stepping into an administrative role for the first time, she has dove into her work passionately and the impacts of her presence are already rippling through the school.
The path that led her to this point is far from typical, but Cooper wouldn’t have it any other way. A tattoo on her shoulder, featuring the Huntington Beach pier within a bear-shaped outline, marks her birthplace on the California coast. Since then, she has bounced around the country, putting down roots in Arizona, Florida and Washington before arriving in Bend.
Most recently serving as an instructional coach at a small alternative high school in Vancouver, Washington, Cooper considers Summit and the greater Bend community a welcome change.
A mother of two, Cooper has reveled in the opportunity to expose her children to the outdoors. From weekend hikes to the simple presence of woodpeckers in her family’s backyard, she has appreciated the incredible access to nature — something Vancouver lacked. Cooper has also been struck by the kindness and inclusivity of Bend residents.
“It just feels like a warm and welcoming space,” she explained. “We love the vibe here.”
In addition to her quick acclimation to Central Oregon, Cooper has made herself at home at Summit, forging relationships with students and teachers and learning what it means to be a member of the Storm. So far, one of her favorite experiences has been attending Summit athletic events.
“During the anthem where they go ‘home of the storm,’ it’s super simple, but I love that,” Cooper said. “It’s so fun. It’s this uniting moment, where we’re all cheering for something.”
In her first weeks at Summit, Cooper has also launched headlong into a plan for school improvement.
“It’s my job to make sure that we’re going from good to great to phenomenal,” Cooper said. “What really fills my cup is seeing students thrive.”
Her main focus for the year is bolstering student success and belonging, ensuring that all members of the Summit community feel valued and have the resources they need to flourish socially, academically and otherwise. To achieve this ambitious goal, she has outlined a three-phase plan that she will implement over the course of the school year.
Cooper will begin by conducting interviews with a wide range of students, identifying possible barriers to belonging in the school. From these “empathy interviews,” she will outline a plan, designed to break down these roadblocks and cultivate an environment where students of all backgrounds feel accepted. Finally, she will implement the plan and seek feedback from students, performing regular check-ins to ensure that no student groups or perspectives have been left behind.
“[Cooper] has a unique way of listening and then teasing out details that help people look at problems from new angles,” said Summit Assistant Principal Kristy Knoll, a close collaborator. “She helps me think about things in new ways and loves to work with our admin team in challenging the status quo.”
For Cooper, facilitating student belonging is more than a career: It is a calling, deeply influenced by her own high school experience.
“You are all welcome here, and you all have value,” Cooper emphasized. “I didn’t hear that [in high school]… and now I’m gonna do everything in my power to make sure that [Summit students] feel that way.”
However, Cooper’s professional outlook is also shaped by the many positive aspects of her educational experience — namely, sports. A talented athlete, she was a member of her high school’s track and field, basketball and volleyball teams.
She went on to compete in the hammer throw at Arizona State University, an experience that solidified her perspective on community. In a sport where individual athletes with vastly different strengths come together to form a single team, Cooper witnessed diversity and belonging hand-in-hand and carried this philosophy forward into her career.
Over the course of her life, Cooper has walked many different paths — that of a high schooler scared to be herself, a collegiate athlete, an elementary school educator, a parent and so much more — but today, as Summit’s assistant principal, these avenues have finally converged.
From her own high school to her track career and the halls of Summit, one thing has remained constant: her drive to ensure that every person, regardless of their background, feels at home. As she put it, “My door is always open.”
