Caitlyn Waterworth

Students at Southside Elementary can expect to see a familiar face as their new principal in the upcoming school year following the retirement of longtime Southside principal, Scott Schiller.

Caitlyn Waterworth will be the new principal beginning in the fall of the 2026-2027 school year. Waterworth, originally from Deaver, studied elementary education out of the University of Wyoming before completing her student teaching in Sheridan and serving as a Title I teacher in Thermopolis.

Following those experiences, Waterworth began working at Southside as a second grade teacher in 2018. In 2024 she received her master’s degree in Educational Leadership through Western Governors University.

“We’re so excited to have Mrs. Waterworth take over for Mr. Schiller, it’s kind of like a passing of the torch within the school,” Superintendent Jay Curtis said. “She’s going to continue to lean on the amazing thing Southside has done for so long and then hopefully embrace some of the changes that we’ve got to make as we move forward.”

Waterworth’s hiring comes in the wake of principal Scott Schiller’s retirement. Schiller, who had spent 22 years working at the district, spent 14 of those years at Southside.

Waterworth is the second principal to be welcomed at Park County School District 1 to be hired out of the district’s Aspiring Administrators program established in 2024 by Curtis, following the hiring of Westside Elementary principal Kelsey Tobin last year. The monthly program focuses on developing leadership and management skills while providing mentorship and coaching for participants.

Prior to accepting the position, Waterworth completed a year-long administrative internship where Mr. Schiller acted as her mentor principal. Over the course of that internship, Waterworth worked with the Guiding Coalition to advance the reading skills of students and organized the Trucks and Trades event for Southside’s fifth graders which was designed to help students in exploring future careers.

“We want her to be successful because her success means student success,” Curtis added. “She’s an absolutely phenomenal addition and I’m excited to see what she does at Southside.”

Homecoming

Caitlyn and her husband, Powell Middle School teacher and Big Horn Basin native Justin Waterworth, knew that they wanted to return to the basin to raise their family.

“It was always one of our goals to get back to the basin and we were really hoping to be able to do that in Powell,” Principal Waterworth said, adding “Our children are now getting to the age where they’re going into school, so something that is important to us is to have that sense of community and family, and the Big Horn Basin provides all of that for us.”

Waterworth wants to build upon the accomplishments of Schiller’s administration while also continuing to develop new approaches to learning.

“Southside already has such a strong culture of professional learning communities which really hones in on collaboration. One of the big goals is that we continue to enhance that and expand on those practices.” Waterworth said. “Another goal is building our tiered approach to literacy instruction and continuing to collaborate with our K-5 grades on how we can meet our literacy goals.”

Waterworth understands the gravity of the position and the responsibility she’s accepting.

“The ultimate goal that I have in this position is just to keep students at the forefront of everything at Southside,” she said, “That’s a big part of our culture and to just have that relentless focus on learning and teaching. I know this year will also bring a lot of learning for me, but I’m really excited to continue that learning.”