June 5, 2023
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to June! It is hard to believe but the 2022-2023 school year will end this month. Please take the time to read this newsletter. Even though this month will mark the close of the school year, there are many interesting and exciting things happening in our schools throughout this month. I hope that as summer approaches, you are thinking and planning for ways to spend quality time with your children for fun and continued learning.
SES Campus- At the conclusion of the school year this year, the restrooms on wheels that you see on the elementary campus will be removed. We leased these restrooms with impact fees this year due to increased enrollment and the need for additional restroom space. We will purchase two temporary restrooms on wheels while we work on a facility solution for our increased enrollment growth and aging facility. We will again use impact fees to purchase these restrooms and we believe that after our need for the restrooms, we will be able to sell them and break even financially. An additional portable will be arriving this month that will provide two additional classrooms for growth that we are anticipating. Finally, in August the playground equipment will be replaced with a new structure that is much needed.
Student Phones- We are seeing greater impacts and engagement issues with students due to social media and screen time. I encourage you to work with your child to set limits on screen time and social media engagement. The research is becoming clear that since 2012, student incidence of daily screen time has dramatically increased both depression and anxiety.
Sultan High School Graduation- The graduation ceremony for Sultan High School will take place at the stadium at 6:00 pm on Saturday, June 10th. We are excited for another group of outstanding seniors to head off to the next chapter of their lives. You can come to join us in person at the stadium for the event or watch the ceremony live on Turkpride TV.
Tax Dollars at Work- In April of 2022 the citizens of the Sultan School District approved a Capital Levy that would repair critical infrastructure, build a new transportation facility, and continue to upgrade technology to today’s standards. Even though the levy was passed in February of 2022, we just started collecting funds from this levy during the spring of 2023. We have completed several smaller projects up to this point and the transportation facility (called Sky Valley Transportation Cooperative) is currently under construction on a piece of property near the Sultan cemetery. This summer we will complete the new roof at Sultan Middle School. You can view our progress and determine what has been completed at the following link.
Facility Survey- In the next week or two we will be sending out a facility survey to gather from parents and community members regarding the needs of our facilities. The survey will ask that you prioritize from your perspective what is most important to focus on to address our facility’s needs. We currently have a citizen facility advisory committee (CFAC) that is made up of citizens and school district personnel that has been meeting for the past few months. If you would like to be part of our citizen facility advisory community, please contact the Sultan School District at 360-793-9801 ext. 1006. You can review the material from the committee’s work at this link.
SSD Website- We are in the process of migrating our school district and school websites to a new platform that should be live in mid-August. The current platform is no longer serving our needs and we want to make sure that information is easy for parents, staff, and others to locate.
June 19th- There will be no school on Monday, June 19th, 2023, in recognition of Juneteenth Day which became a recognized holiday in 2021. When this school year started, June 19th fell outside of the calendar. Due to two missed school days because of snow and smoke, we will end the school year on June 21st. The last day of school will be a half-day. Please check our website or look for information that is sent out from your son or daughter’s school with more specific information.
Last Day of School- June 21st which will be a half day.
Summer Food Service- The summer feeding program will begin on July 17, 2023. Specific times, dates, and places will be announced in the coming days.
Preschool- We are still accepting applications for preschool that will be offered on the Sultan Elementary School campus during the 2023-2024 school year. Register ASAP to secure your student for preschool at this link. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call either Sultan Elementary School at 360-793-9830 or GBE at 360-793-9840. Students in the Gold Bar attendance area will be accepted into the program at SES.
Thank you for taking the time to read this entire newsletter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Sincerely,
Dan Chaplik, Superintendent