Being a school administrator can be a mentally and emotionally draining job, and this year, Cydney Vandercar eagerly stepped up to the job of interim principal with little notice.
Vandercar, a former Falcon who graduated in 1985, has requested that students call her Cydney or Cyd, following in the footsteps of Vice Principal Joel Smith, who prefers to be called Joel.
She previously worked in Eugene School District 4J as a math teacher from 1993 to 1999, as assistant principal at South Eugene High School from 1999 to 2004, as principal of Spencer Butte Middle School from 2004 to 2008 and as principal of Cal Young Middle School from 2008 to 2012. She moved to the district office from 2012 to 2023, serving as interim superintendent from 2020 to 2022. She then retired but soon agreed to fill the top role at Elmira High School.
Vandercar was asked by Superintendent Gary Carpenter to come to work for the school after the late resignation of former Principal Rick Gardner. District officials didn’t have a lot of time to locate a candidate as generally they would have started the search in January, and Vandercar agreed to step up on an interim basis.
She said she is looking forward to watching students excel in extracurricular activities this school year.
When asked about her favorite part of EHS so far, she said: “My favorite thing about our school is that the staff works really hard to help each other and are very supportive of each other.”
Vandercar plans to be at EHS through her one-year contract but said she would extend her time if needed.
She said that when she attended EHS, the biggest changes were the cafeteria being in the front of the school, having a smoke shack in the back of the school for staff and students, and that there was only one gym, making it hard for teams to practice at once.
Vandercar said she would like to see a few improvements this school year, including new gutters next to the library as well as overall upkeep of the campus.
Her hobbies include crossword puzzles, taking pictures, shopping on Amazon and watching the TV show “Big Brother.” She also is “obsessed” with Disneyland.
“The staff there are so nice, and all of the parents there seem to care a lot about their children,” Vandercar said while explaining that she goes to Disneyland annually.
She ran two half-marathons through Disneyland, during which the runners got to run behind the scenes. Vandercar said that was a “very cool part.”
Vandercar said she is a mother of four and happily married. They have three grown adult boys who are all married with kids, and she has a daughter who is a junior at Sheldon High School in Eugene.
Her favorite food is pizza, and her favorite dessert is mixed berry pie.
Vandercar recalled that when she was a student at EHS, she climbed onto the roof of the school. She recounted the experience with students while looking through the yearbook from her senior year. She willingly re-created the photo, with help from Smith, for Falcon News.
