About Our School

Tapteal Elementary school opened its doors to students in the fall of 1978. The name was chosen because Tapteal was the Native American name for the Yakima River. It means, "the river that runs clean." (or Where two rivers meet?) Many years ago the Yakima River was full of salmon, which the native Americans scooped out of the river and dried for food and fuel. Today, it is a major source of irrigation water for the Yakima valley farms and orchards.

The first Principal of Tapteal elementary was Bill Hinchcliff. Upon his retirement in 1981, Paul Dowdy was appointed principal. After Dr. Larry Dale came, in 1988, Tapteal began a primary multi-age program with combination classes of 1,2, and 3rd grades together. In 1993, an intermediate multiage program was started with 4th & 5th grades in the same classrooms. Todd Baddley, former Tapteal PE teacher, became principal in 1997. When he left to become the principal of Carmichael Middle School in 1999, Nick Grubich was hired as principal. Carole Swick replaced Nick in 2004 and was principal until 2008.  Rhonda Pratt became the next principal in 2008 and was principal until June 2019 when she left to become the principal of Chief Jo Middle School.  In 2019, Sean Langdon was then chosen to become our latest Tapteal principal.