Profile: Kathryn Long

By Dawne Belloise

It was 2021, smack in the middle of the COVID fiasco, when Kathryn Long took a job and decided to move with her husband, Adam, and two kids, to the Gunnison Valley—a place they had never visited before. She had started grad school for a degree in Educational Leadership in 2020 at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs and landed in the valley because they wanted to move to a small town, especially since a rare opportunity with CBCS became available when assistant principal Bob Piccaro retired from the position. A few days after she sent her resume and application, principal Sally Hensley called and requested an interview and then offered her the job. 

Kathryn hails from Gloucester, Virginia, a small town with only one school, and it’s the same school her mom attended when she was a kid. “Part of what drew me to the Gunnison Valley was that we wanted to raise our kids in a small town,” she tells. They had been relocated to Colorado Springs in 2013 for her husband’s job. “We visited Colorado Springs and enjoyed the sunshine,” she says, and they thought that was the place for them, but they hadn’t had their kids yet. Kathryn’s first year was as a classroom teacher and reading specialist in Colorado Springs, and later she became an instructional coach. “You get to learn a lot about instructions and how it relates vertically and horizontally. It’s helping stay aligned, like for example, making sure all students each get the same learning experience.” 

She had met her hubby Adam through a youth group at a music event in Richmond, Virginia, when she was only sweet 16. The two met up again at the following year’s event. The couple tied the knot in 2009. “I was a ripe 21 years old by then,” she laughs. “And now we’re married with two kids and I still like him, how cool is that?” Their boys are eight-year-old Parker, and Alder, the spunky five-year old.

By 2021, Kathryn says they were quite done with city living in the Springs. “I was pretty tired of traffic, too,” she says. “We just wanted to take our boys to the mountains to slow it down. We wanted to be really thoughtful about intentionally designing what we wanted our family to look like. That vision was to be outside a lot, be able to enjoy the weather, plus my husband loves to ski. We wanted sweeping views and wildlife and we need sunshine.” She had found the assistant principal position for CBCS advertised on a website and all the interviews were done virtually online, so she hadn’t seen the area until they came to explore after she was hired. Kathryn came up with her bestie to look at some rentals and found one in town in early August that allowed their two dogs and two kids. “I had no idea of what it looked like here. The jaw drop came around Almont on those beautiful curves next to the river and I thought, oh my gosh!” She had only seen photos of the school online. “At the overlook I felt like I was going to be so scared driving in the winter and that I needed to learn how to drive in snow,” she laughs, but she decided it was worth it. 

Then they found a house in Gunnison that they fell in love with and moved into their new home in October of 2021. “It was a wild time learning to be an administrator and putting my kids into a new school, plus we were looking at houses every weekend.” At the time Kathryn began work at CBCS, the position was only two half-time jobs that made it one full-time. “One job was assistant principal at the Crested Butte Elementary School and the other half was District Emergency Manager (DEM), which had a lot to do with COVID, safety and quarantining. All of our emergency responses, like fire drills and lockdowns, all go through DEM,” she explains.

She says her husband helps sponsor her with his patience and flexibility. “He’s really the best and he works from home as an IT guy for Xerox. When the mountain is open, he works up there two days a week so we can get all our ski passes. He makes it possible for me to do this job since he gets the kids from school and makes everything happen because I’m not there.”

In her free time, Kathryn says she’s really been working on her skiing but laughs that those Ski for PE students zoom right by her. They’ve been exploring their new surroundings and the family enjoys the seasonal hiking. “We do different trails but they’re all new to us, having never been here before. We’re just figuring out the valley.”

She was a bit taken aback by the amount of love Ullr shows our end of the valley. “I knew it was going to snow by the pictures,” she laughs, “but I didn’t realize how much snow or how fluffy it was. When kids rolled up to school with full snowsuits I had no idea and thought, you’re wearing these during recess?” But perhaps the real surprise was when she realized, “Things don’t close or even get delayed! This is more than enough snow for me and I’m so thankful to live in Gunnison since it’s just a little bit less snow.” Kathryn actually loves her commute to Crested Butte for work. “I have to stop for mountain sheep and there are huge fields of elk and there are bald eagles.” And maybe best of all, “I learned to drive in the snow,” she says proudly. “Now, I only want to cry just a little, it’s no longer full-on panic, it’s just a little bit scary.” She does take the bus sometimes, usually when the weather is unpredictable or if she has to stay late at work.

 What was scary was when her son, Parker, was hit by two different cars on Eighth Street while biking to school in Gunnison this past October. “He’s okay but instantly people were offering their services and meals were showing up. It was so beautiful in such a hard time. Everyone was so thoughtful and kind and checking in on us and Parker. I’m so thankful,” says Kathryn.

 It’s this community that Kathryn says makes her love this valley, and she feels the schools have their process well under control. “Everything in this district is amazing. Because it’s so isolated, everything’s been built here, like built-on classrooms in expansions, and they design their own instruction, programs and curriculums. You have to be pretty independent to be out here because you’re going to have to figure it out yourself. Large school districts tell you what to do, how to do it and they have teams of people who design all of the pieces, from academic pieces to just everything. We’re so thankful for this community that has been so kind, from welcoming a new family to making sure that we have a family here.”