ROYAL CITY — For Royal Intermediate School’s new principal, it’s sort of a homecoming.

“I grew up around Royal, my whole life,” said Karl Edie, who officially became the principal at RHS at the beginning of July. “My mother worked for the Royal Review (newspaper), a long time ago. So I’m excited to be back among the great people in Royal City.”

Edie grew up in Mattawa, he said, attending Wahluke schools. He later taught there and served as principal at Morris Schott Elementary School for nine years. 

Edie got his bachelor’s degree at Central Washington University, he said, and his master’s online. While he was working toward his principal’s certification, he taught at Starbuck, a K-8 school in northern Franklin County. He also put in a year at Educational Service District 105 in Yakima, as the attendance and re-engagement coordinator.

“It was a great job, and I learned a lot,” Edie said. “But it was more of a desk job, more of an office situation, and I missed the school.”

From there, Edie went to his most recent position, as assistant principal for kindergarten through eighth grade in Cle Elum. He was looking for a way to get closer to home when the RIS position came open.

Edie replaces Angie Baldus, who has been the principal there since 2020. Baldus is relocating to the Lewiston, Idaho area, where her family is from, she said.

The changeover is going well, said Royal School District Superintendent Roger Trail. 

“We’re really proud of our new addition to our team and we're excited about bringing him on board,” Trail said. “We had quite a process for selecting (a principal) … Part of that was your standard interview. A number of teachers were on that and, like they say the cream, rises to the top, and Karl did that. It was a unanimous selection.”

Edie won’t be living in Royal City in the foreseeable future, he said; he’ll commute from Ellensburg. His wife teaches kindergarten there, he said, and his two grown daughters are in the Ellensburg area as well. The Edies also have one son who recently graduated and lives at home, he added, and another who will be a junior in high school this year.

One thing Edie will be working on is his facility with Spanish, he said.

“I grew up in Mattawa,” he said. “So it is probably pretty much as you would expect from somebody who cannot speak Spanish, but can understand maybe half of what's being said. I would love to improve on that.”

The school staff will be off during July, so Edie spent a good part of June getting his bearings at the school so he can hit the ground running when school starts in August.

“I've gotten to know some of the staff and they're phenomenal,” he said. “We have really sharp, smart people working here, really personable (and) welcoming. They have the right attitude, I think, and they are ready to do whatever it takes to make the school great and get these kids learning as much as possible.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.