Donna Anderson works with Chelsea Praus on Wednesday, Aug. 8, at the Hair We Are beauty school in North Bend. For several years, Anderson has run the business as a salon and opened the only beauty school in the area about two months ago. This day is the first day Praus has practiced cutting hair on the doll, which is designed to facilitate different lessons on styling as students clip the hair shorter during the course. World Photos by Lou Sennick

Jessica Musicar, Staff Writer

NORTH BEND - Ethics might not seem like a key part of an industry focused on perfecting hair, nails and skin, but for a new beauty school in the area, teaching students how to properly serve their future clients is of the utmost importance.

“I'm trying to stress that with these students that that's a really important thing,” said Donna Anderson, the owner and one of three instructors at Hair We Are Beauty College in North Bend. “I guess that it's almost 80 percent personality and 20 percent skill. ...People won't come back to you if they don't like your personality.”

It also was one of several reasons why Anderson decided to open. Recalling customers' complaints about stylists who would cancel without informing them ahead of time, Anderson said she realized something needed to be done.

“Being that this is such a small town, I think the stylists have grown accustomed to having less of a work ethic. Our hopes and goal with this school is to replenish that ethic,” said Brandi Boehme, another instructor at the school, who said ethics are instilled in students from their very first day. “We show up to work every day and we expect our students to show up every day and be prepared.”

Open since June 4, at the site of Anderson's former Hair We Are Salon, 2596 Broadway, the school offers a competency-based program that can include hair design, nail technology and aesthetics or only one piece. Ambitious pupils can complete their course work in a shorter period by testing out of each level. Anderson said there are only nine other schools like college in Oregon.

“The women and men who are interested in pursuing this career can work locally in a shorter amount of time,” Boehme said, as students prepared for the day, pulling out books, scissors and other tools, or chatting at stations.

Freshmen begin by reading and studying the course material and then test to become juniors. There are no sophomores at the school. At that point, they can begin the practical part of the course, working on mannequin heads to perfect hair styles before moving on to the real thing. Seniors start working on models and clients.

Students are able to graduate and take the state board exam after they pass final exams. Tuition is $8,475 for the entire beauty course, or $5,800, for hair design; $3,450, for nail technology; or $3,950, for nail technology and aesthetics. In-house loans are available for students who say they can't afford to pay the full tuition before class begins. Hair We Are is licensed by the Oregon Department of Education.

Boehme said one benefit of taking on clients while learning at the beauty school is students can develop a clientele and presence in the area early on.

The first class includes 10 students, but Anderson said she plans to keep the student body small to maintain a sense of individual attention.

Beyond style and ethics, Anderson said she wants prepare students for solid careers in the industry while filling empty beauty stations at salons in the area with talented, conscientious stylists.

“I just want to teach the good skills and the joy of making somebody else happy. That's what it all comes down to,” Anderson said. “The passion I get out of it is making someone feel good about themselves ... My feeling is, if you feel like you don't look good, you don't feel good.”

Standing in a room filled with large, rounded mirrors, a checkerboard floor and the clear, clean, repetitive sound of scissors at work, student Rily Maggard, of Coquille, said she had wanted to attend a beauty school for sometime, and was looking into a program in Roseburg when Hair We Are opened.

“I've always loved hair and all the pretties and nails,” Maggard said smiling, adding that she hopes to begin her career working at a salon before opening her own.

Already a senior in hair cutting and a junior in nails and aesthetics, Maggard said she wants to complete her education as soon as possible.

“I'm not here to twiddle my thumbs,” she said, lauding the school's schedule - 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. - as perfect for stay-at-home moms like herself.

Jill Wentzel, a new client of the school who lives in Gold Beach and Coos Bay, said she and her sister have had their nails done by some of the students, and was very impressed. She marveled at the cost and quality of her pedicure, which cost $12.

“I thought it was great. My toes are gorgeous.”

A 30-year resident of North Bend, Anderson graduated from beauty school in 1993 and has been working in the community ever since. She opened Hair We Are Beauty Salon in 2002, before deciding to transform it into a beauty school last fall.

“I figured there was a need for stylists,” Anderson said.