As a father and as the chairman of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, I take a keen interest in our North Kitsap schools. This year, there are several new leaders helping in the education of our children. For example, at Kingston High School — where my daughter graduated last year — there’s a new assistant principal, Melissa Super-Greene.

Most parents in this district probably know about the newly appointed North Kitsap School District superintendent, Dr. Laurynn Evans, who took over at the start of this school year. She brings to her new position many years of experience, including as a teacher and principal. Calling herself a “servant leader,” Dr. Evans has said she wants to visit every classroom at least once by the end of the school year. A wonderful goal that shows she is truly engaged in finding ways to better educate our children.

At Wolfle Elementary, there’s a new principal: Courtney Allison. Principal Allison brings 18 years of teaching experience to her new position and, for the past two years, she has served as the assistant principal at Quil Ceda Tulalip Elementary in Marysville. When we reached out to her in welcoming, she responded enthusiastically: “I am so excited to be a part of the Wolfle family! I am looking forward to partnering with the S’Klallam Tribe to support our students as best we can. I’m also looking forward to learning more about the culture, as it is so important to me, and I enjoy that part so much!”

Wolfle Elementary has been a great partner to our Tribe. Every year, we work with them to support programs that benefit not just our kids, but all students. We’re looking forward to continuing the good and important work of educating our kids with Principal Allison.

When educators from the North Kitsap School District work with our Tribe, they will coordinate with our new career and education director, Kari DeCoteau. While Kari has only been on the job for the few months — her first day was July 26 — she hit the ground running to make sure our kids have the best year possible. In August, she helped coordinate our new teacher orientation, which welcomed 32 new educators and staff members from the district to our House of Knowledge. During this event and throughout the year, Kari and her team at Career and Education work to educate the educators on our culture and language. The goal is to build long-lasting relationships that will help all our children.

Our kids go to North Kitsap schools and we do what we can to support the educational system in this part of the county — and that includes making sure our students and their families receive the support they need. This begins before school starts, with programs like Backpack Distribution that gives each child in our community a backpack filled with items from the NKSD K-12 supply list; and our annual Wolfle Meet-and-Greet, which is an opportunity for our S’Klallam families to meet teachers and staff in an informal setting. Now that the school year is in full swing, our kids can receive the help they need from academic coaches and homework clubs. Those who meet their academic goals are rewarded through our Grade Incentive Program.

Education is important to our Tribe as I know it is to your family. I want to welcome all the new leaders and teachers to our North Kitsap schools. Thank you for the work you do!

— Jeromy Sullivan is chairman of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. Contact him at jeromys@pgst.nsn.us.