Dear Parents and Community Members,

As I write these opening words to welcome everyone to the 2024-2025 school year, I cannot help but think of the many successes our students experienced last year and in years past. I am anticipating and confident that there will be many positive experiences and achievements that will occur this school year for our students. I am also thankful to our staff for their daily dedication and commitment to our students and community. I am grateful to our families for sending the most important thing in the world to you, your kids to be in our care each day. It is both an honor and a privilege to be given this opportunity and responsibility! I also want to thank the community for your continued support of our schools.

Our community is growing and I want to take a moment to welcome all the new residents. Whether you have students who will attend our schools or not, it is important that you each feel like you are part of the community and our school community. We welcome volunteers and if you are interested in volunteering in one of our schools there are several ways that you can help. Contact one of our schools or the district office if you have any questions about opportunities that might be available.

There will be many exciting things happening in the Sultan School District and all of our schools this coming year. At the elementary level K-5 we have adopted a new math curriculum that will be implemented at both SES and GBE. The curriculum i-Ready Mathematics was adopted after it was piloted in classrooms and evaluated along with several curriculums by our instructional materials committee. The committee is made up of teachers, community members, parents, and other staff. Here is an evaluation of iReady Math so you can view how it is rated in various areas that are important when considering curriculums. We will also welcome a dedicated mental health counselor to our staff who will split time between Sultan Elementary School and Gold Bar Elementary School. At Sultan Middle School and Sultan High School, we continue to grow and expand our CTE Career and Technical education learning opportunities for students. One of our goals is to continue to offer more opportunities for students to gain access to various trades. We are already planning for the Trade-Up event that will take place in the spring of 2025.

If you have any questions about anything in this newsletter or otherwise school-related please don't hesitate to reach out. Also, if you would like to tour our schools, we will be offering several opportunities once school starts on September 4th.

I was recently informed by the State Board of Education (SBE) that three of our schools in the Sultan School District are being recognized as part of the Washington School Recognition Program for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school year. Recognition of student performance in our schools confirms the hard work staff is taking to improve outcomes for students by closing learning gaps and showing tremendous progress in student growth and achievement. This recognition is overdue, and we are excited to honor our schools for showing excellence in these areas.

Congratulations on the following recognized schools for the 2021-2022 school year:

·Gold Bar Elementary: Closing gaps for English learner progress

·Sultan Middle School: Growth for one or more student groups

Congratulations on the following recognized schools for the 2022-2023 school year:

·Gold Bar Elementary: Closing Gaps for one or more student groups and Growth for one or more student groups.

·Sultan Elementary School: Closing Gaps for English learner progress and Growth for one or more student groups.

Find more information about the methodology, definitions of these awards, and the specifics of the recognition for each school on SBE’s methodology webpage.

Now is the time to celebrate the inspiring work of these incredible schools to support our students and staff!

The Sultan School District Board of Directors voted unanimously to run a bond on November 5, 2024. The overall bond package is slightly less than in February 2024 as we have removed the demolition of the old transportation building from the bond package and we will pay for that project with proceeds we receive as a junior taxing district from DNR timber harvests. The Sultan School District and the communities of Sultan, Startup, and Gold need more classroom space to serve our growing community and student body. Choosing a bond is an investment for the community as the schools will serve students and families for years to come while staff that work in the schools come and go. The objectives of the plan are to create space by building a 45,000 square foot K-4 elementary school on property the school district owns off of Sultan Basin Road, adding 10,000 square feet to Gold Bar Elementary School which will also serve K-4 students, serve 5th and 6th graders at Sultan Elementary School, and serve 7th and 8th-grade students at Sultan Middle School. The property off of Sultan Basin Road where the new elementary school is planned will also serve as a safe zone for our students and the community if the Culmback Dam ever fails. Strong communities and strong schools happen together! The schools are the property of the taxpayers within the school district and they will be here to serve students and the community for years to come! For more information, you can visit our bond web page using the following link. Information will be updated frequently.

During the summer of 2024, the Sultan School District hosted the ANEW program that provided students with exposure and experience in various aspects of the trades. This opportunity was conducted onsite at Sultan High School in the wood shop and metal shop areas of the Vocational and Agricultural Building. Specifically, the Youth Exploration Program, in partnership with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), worked with students on Individualized Education Plans (IEP), 504 Plans, and students with documented disabilities to offer them access to career pathways in the construction building trades. Students had the unique opportunity to be exposed to construction employment, workshops, relevant soft skills, hands-on construction projects, and activities that used a strength-based approach. Workshop components included:

• Soft Skills: Introduction to the Trades, Safety on the job site, Emotional Intelligence

• Informational Interviews

• Self-Advocacy

• Financial Literacy/ Money Management

• Hand-On Construction Projects

• Blueprint Reading/ Construction Plans

• Construction Project

• Pre-Apprenticeship / Apprenticeship Process

Students who participated for all 40 hours were paid for their time. In all, 15 Sultan High School students participated.

Meet our Director of Athletics and Youth Programs

I would like to introduce myself to the Sultan School District and Community.

I have worked in education in many different roles since 2007. I taught history and weights; and coached football, basketball, baseball, and softball. For the past 12 years, I have worked as an Athletic Director, Assistant Principal (7 years), and CTE Director (2 years). I love working in athletics and helping students find success. For me, there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing a student-athlete accomplish something they never thought they could. I grew up in Royal City and played football, basketball, and baseball; where I was lucky enough to be a part of state champion teams in football and baseball. I have shared my love for playing and coaching sports with today's students and constantly try to get more students involved with athletics. I believe so many great things can be learned and obtained through athletics. One of my goals at Sultan is to increase participation in athletics each season; ultimately I want to see three sport athletes in all sports that Sultan offers. One of the most important roles that I have in Sultan is the Youth Athletics component of my job. I truly believe that in order for Sultan to have elite high school athletic programs we must build our youth programs first. I plan to work with the elementary schools and the Sultan community to make our youth programs bigger and better; while also making these programs more inclusive for all of our students throughout the entire school district.

I welcome feedback from students, parents, and staff members. I can be reached by email at: chris.hill@sultan.k12.wa.us or by phone at: 360-793-9860

Thanks, Chris Hill

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at 360-793-9801 Ext. 1006, or email at dan.chaplik@sultan.k12.wa.us.

Thank you,

Dan Chaplik, Superintendent