Dear Sultan High School Students and Parents/Guardians,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 2019-2020 school year. I am very excited to serve all of you in my second year as your principal. Our staff is working hard to prepare engaging and rewarding learning experiences for all students. We look forward to seeing our returning 10th, 11th and 12th grade families, and we are excited to get to know our new 9th grade and transfer families. At SHS, we place value on our partnership with parents, families, and community and we invite you to be an active part of helping students to achieve their full potential.
We have high expectations of our students, and we have high expectations of ourselves to help all SHS students learn and grow into well-rounded citizens and critical thinkers. SHS aims to develop leadership skills, social and emotional skills, and academic skills to prepare students for success not only in high school but also in college/career, relationships, and life-long learning.
Sultan High School students will be taught to view themselves as learners and to think about what it looks like to be a good learner and thinker. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills are as important as content knowledge. According to a recent Department of Labor report, 65% of students will be employed in jobs that do not yet exist, so it will be important for all students to acquire the analytical, evaluative, and creative skills to apply such thinking toward becoming successful in the jobs of the future.
To help your student be successful in high school, help them understand what is required of them to be a good learner inside and outside of the classroom. Talk about qualities and learning behaviors such as: attendance, viewing errors as opportunities, working to recover from a mistake, giving and receiving feedback, asking questions, collaborating positively with peers, setting goals, planning with a purpose, and tracking their own progress. Students need both high challenge and high support to grow as learners, and we look forward to helping students maximize their growth at SHS and prepare them for their future endeavors.
We invite you to be our partners in our work. We look forward to working with families to accomplish great things for our students! Please continue to visit our website for updates throughout the year. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. You can reach me at sarita.whitmire@sultan.k12.wa.us or 360-793-9860.