Dear Sultan School District Families and Community Members,
Welcome to the Sultan School District! Whether you are new to our school system and community or you are returning, I am excited to work with you as we get ready to begin the 2023-2024 school year. We hope that you find the information within this calendar helpful as a resource to answer your questions or a school directory to contact a school or staff member. School is scheduled to start on September 6th for students in grades 1-5, 6 & 9, and begin on September 7th for grades 7 & 8 and 10-12. We begin with 6th and 9th grade only on the first day of school so that students have an opportunity to get acclimated to changes and their new surroundings with fewer students on campus. Kindergarten students will begin WA Kids Conferencing Assessments with parents on the 6th – 8th of September. The first day for kindergarten students will be on Monday, September 11th.
The 2022-2023 school year saw many successes for our students. Our HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) Team at Sultan High School finished as state champions and went on to place 6th in the nation. Many of these head-to-head competitions involved competing against schools that were three or four times the size of Sultan High School. This feat was accomplished without our Sports Medicine program having an Anatomage Table (FDA-cleared digital 3D anatomy visualization &virtual dissection table). We have since purchased an Anatomage Table with a combination of funds that include donations, grants, and district funds. Also, our cheerleading team at Sultan High School finished as state champions. We are proud of all of our students, and we look forward to seeing them at school.
There are also several very exciting things happening with our facilities. Last year at this time I shared in the calendar that we would be breaking ground very soon for a new Sky Valley Transportation Cooperative building.
Fast forward one year and the building is scheduled to be completed in November of 2023- on time and within budget. In addition, at the conclusion of this past school year, we immediately began work on completing the Sultan Middle School roof. The section of the roof that failed in 2019 was paid for with DNR proceeds, a loan, and an emergency grant. The work of both projects are part of the taxpayer-supported 2022 Capital Levy that we began collecting in the March-April of 2023. Collection of levy money occurs each year for the duration of the levy and as a result, we are completing the projects as cash flow allows. To see the Capital Levy project list and our progress visit our website at sultanschools.org. We also have an active Citizen Facility Advisory Committee looking at various ways to address our enrollment growth and aging facilities.
There are also some challenges that we are facing as learning loss in the area of mathematics is a concern. Our schools, staff, and students had made great strides in math instruction and learning over many years which was interrupted by remote learning and the Pandemic. We have adopted a new math curriculum for middle school and high school, and we will be piloting a new curriculum K-5 this fall. Our commitment to closing the gap of learning loss is ongoing. In addition, we are also continuing to work with students to make sure that they feel a positive connection to our schools and community. This includes feeling safe at school so that learning can occur at the highest levels. Students have indicated to us through surveys that some of the drills we were conducting to keep kids safe were causing more anxiety and the feeling among some that they were not safe. We are going to dig deeper into this issue and seek to understand more about the reasons students are feeling this way.
In closing, there is no doubt that the last few years have been challenging for both students and adults. I still believe that our students have much to look forward to and be excited about. A positive connection between and among students is very important to a happy and healthy experience. It is my hope that all of us focus on the importance of kindness to one another.
Sincerely,
Dan Chaplik, Superintendent
Sultan School District #311