John Bettencourt

This week I'd like to highlight John Bettencourt, who is the Principal of Oakdale Heights in  Oroville. John has been in education for 26 years, with the last 7 as Principal at Oakdale.  Being a principal is a very rewarding and challenging job. John is well acquainted with his students, and if you spend much time on his campus, which I had the benefit of doing the past two years, you will see that the students love to give him hugs and high fives.

John is married to Shelly, an extraordinary educator in her own right, and teaches in Paradise Unified School District. They have six children, three boys and three girls. Recently, John and Shelly were blessed to find out that they will be grandparents before the end of the year! John loves to watch his kids participate in sports, whether that be football or cheerleading; he’s always in the stands cheering his kids on!

John’s one thought about how he’d love support for his school this year is celebrating staff and making them feel appreciated.  He states, “Over the last few years, our community has experienced several traumatic events, such as the Lake Oroville spillway crises, the Camp, Bear, and Dixie fires, and COVID.  Families and students were affected severely with these traumatic events and school staff have gone above and beyond to support students academically and emotionally, to the point of having to create a new way of teaching students when we were all forced into distance learning. As we recover from these traumatic events, I would love to see the community show school staff appreciation for their efforts to bring students and families through these traumatic experiences, and not asking anything in return except to be able to witness the successful growth of our students as they develop into productive members of our community.”

If you would like to support John and his Oakdale Heights staff, please visit his office to talk with him, or visit pepschools.org and we can help you. Together, we make a difference!