We write as concerned parents and long-standing members of the Sunland community regarding the direction, stability, and future of an institution in which many of us have invested.

As parents, we are not merely observers. We are stakeholders. We entrust our children to this institution, invest significantly in their education, and depend upon the school to provide stability, quality instruction, sound leadership, and an environment in which our children can thrive academically, socially, and athletically.

Over time, we have witnessed the departure of teachers and administrators, including individuals who have contributed significantly to the stability, culture, academic development, and reputation of the school. We are also aware that additional staffing and administrative changes are taking place.

Of equal concern is the quality and effectiveness of some members of the teaching staff. Parents have repeatedly found themselves having to accept situations that directly affect the quality of our children’s education, while feeling that our concerns have not always received the level of attention or action they deserve from the Board.

Our concern is not simply about where new employees come from or about change itself. Change is sometimes necessary. Our concern is the continued loss of experienced personnel, the apparent level of turnover, the quality of those entrusted with educating and developing our children, the overall stability of the institution, and ultimately, the effect these decisions may have on our children.

Confidence in Leadership and Development from Within

Another growing concern among parents is what appears to be a lack of confidence in the leadership potential and capabilities of individuals already within the institution.

When vacancies arise for key leadership positions, such as Principal or Head of School, there appears to be a recurring need to look outside of the existing school community to fill those roles. This raises an important question for parents: Why does the institution seemingly not have confidence in its own administrators and educators to grow into and assume positions of leadership?

This is not an objection to hiring qualified individuals from outside of Sunland. There are certainly circumstances in which external recruitment can bring valuable experience and a fresh perspective. However, when outsourcing leadership becomes the repeated approach, it naturally causes parents to question whether enough is being done to identify, mentor, develop, and retain capable leaders from within.

A strong institution should not only educate and develop its students; it should also develop its people. Teachers and administrators who have demonstrated commitment, competence, leadership, and an understanding of the school’s culture should be able to see opportunities for professional growth and advancement within the institution.

If experienced employees continually leave while major leadership positions are repeatedly filled externally, parents are left to wonder what this says about the school’s confidence in its own staff and, equally important, what message it sends to the dedicated professionals who remain.

For an institution seeking long-term stability, succession planning, internal development, staff retention, and confidence in capable existing personnel should be part of that stability.

Our Relationship with Sunland

Over the years, we have come to view ourselves as more than merely patrons of this institution. We are stakeholders and investors not only financially, but through the trust we place in the school every day with our children. For many of us, Sunland has felt like family.

Because of that sense of belonging and loyalty, there have been many occasions when situations arose that we were unhappy with, disappointed by, or deeply concerned about, yet we chose to keep those concerns among ourselves and within the school community. We did so because we viewed Sunland as our own. We believed that challenges within our school family should be addressed within that family, and we remained committed even when we were dissatisfied.

However, that loyalty should never be mistaken for acceptance or indifference.

If parents are to be regarded merely as paying patrons, and our children treated as just another number, while serious concerns are met with “business as usual,” then parents must reconsider how we approach our relationship with the institution.

If our relationship with the school is to be treated strictly as business, then we too must approach it as such and expect the transparency, accountability, quality, stability, and value that should accompany the significant investment we make in our children’s education.

Sunland’s Academic and Athletic Identity

Sunland has increasingly sought to establish and promote itself as an institution known for both academic and athletic excellence. However, it is important to acknowledge what and, more importantly, who has helped to build that brand.

A significant part of Sunland’s athletic reputation has been built through the accomplishments of talented students whose abilities have been nurtured, developed, and showcased by a dependable, experienced, and trusted athletic department.

Many parents have made the decision to transfer their children to Sunland specifically because of the reputation of the athletic program and the confidence they have had in the coaches to recognize, develop, protect, and properly manage their children’s talents.

As a body of parents, we are not speculating about what has attracted and retained families at this institution. We have witnessed it firsthand.

Sunland has not experienced increased interest because of extraordinary facilities, an extensive range of elective choices, or particularly affordable school fees. Parents make a substantial financial investment to send their children here. Yet families have continued to choose Sunland because of the people who have represented what this institution can and should be.

Over the past several years, some of Sunland’s greatest assets have been the faces of dedicated and respected teachers, the strength and reputation of its athletic department, and the accomplishments and well-roundedness of its student-athletes.

Those individuals have become part of the face of Sunland and, whether sufficiently acknowledged or not, have played an enormous role in attracting families, retaining students, and building the reputation the institution now benefits from.

We recognize that many student-athletes arrive at Sunland already possessing natural ability and potential. But talent alone does not produce sustained success.

That talent must be nurtured, disciplined, developed, protected, and cared for. Much of that work has been done by experienced and trusted coaches who have built meaningful relationships not only with their athletes, but with their parents and families.

That very area, however, now appears increasingly unstable, and this is a serious concern.

An institution that promotes itself on the strength of its athletic program cannot reasonably depend upon one individual to carry the responsibility of an entire athletic department serving students from Pre-K through Grade 12.

This is particularly concerning when athletics is so heavily present within the identity and daily life of the school, with students participating across numerous sporting disciplines and at multiple age levels.

No matter how dedicated, capable, or hardworking one person may be, it is neither reasonable nor sustainable to expect one individual to provide the leadership, oversight, development, coordination, and support required for an athletic program of this size and importance.

If athletics is going to remain a significant part of the Sunland brand and if the school is going to continue celebrating and benefiting from the achievements of its student-athletes as a representation of the institution then the athletic department must be provided with the staffing, structure, resources, and stability necessary to support that responsibility.

Parents need confidence that the success and future of the athletic program do not depend on the presence or capacity of any single individual. There must be a strong, adequately staffed, and properly supported department behind it.

A program that has taken years to build should not be placed in a position where its stability, reputation, and future can be compromised by a lack of proper staffing, planning, and support.

Likewise, the same consideration must be given to academics. Experienced and respected teachers, administrators, and coaches are not simply employees whose departure can always be addressed by filling a vacancy. They carry institutional knowledge, relationships, trust, experience, and continuity. When too many of those individuals leave, parents naturally begin to question what is happening and why.

What Parents Are Asking For

With a new school year approaching, parents should not be left to speculate about the future of the institution in which we are being asked to place our children.

We deserve meaningful communication regarding the direction of the school, the changes taking place, and the measures being implemented to ensure stability within both the academic and athletic departments.

This letter is not intended to create division or conflict. It comes from parents who have supported this institution, defended it, invested in it, entrusted our children to it, celebrated its successes, and, in many instances, remained silent about our disappointments because we genuinely considered ourselves part of the Sunland family.

But being part of a family must work both ways.

Parents cannot be expected to continuously invest financially and emotionally in an institution while feeling that our concerns, our experiences, and ultimately our children are secondary to “business as usual.”

We are therefore asking the Board and administration for transparency, accountability, stability, meaningful communication, and reassurance that the decisions currently being made are in the best interests of our children and the long-term future of Sunland.

We want Sunland to succeed. We want its academic program to be strong. We want its athletic program to continue flourishing. We want experienced and effective teachers, administrators, and coaches to feel valued. Most importantly, we want our children to receive the quality of education, development, care, and opportunity that parents have invested in and that the institution represents itself as providing.

Sunland’s reputation has been built over many years, and much of that reputation has been carried on the shoulders of the teachers, coaches, students, athletes, and families who have represented it proudly.

If Sunland intends to protect and strengthen its brand, it must first protect, value, and strengthen the people who built it.

Respectfully,

Concerned Parents of the Sunland Community

A CALL TO THE SUNLAND PARENT BODY

This petition is not about attacking Sunland. It is about protecting an institution that our families have invested in, believed in, and entrusted with our children.

If you are a parent or guardian who shares these concerns, we ask you to stand with us.

By signing this petition, you are joining other parents in calling upon the Board and Administration of Sunland to meet with the parent body and openly address the concerns surrounding staff and administrative turnover, the quality and stability of instruction, leadership appointments and development from within, the structure and future of the athletic department, and the overall direction of the institution.

SIGN THIS PETITION AND STAND WITH THE SUNLAND PARENT BODY.

Our children deserve stability.
Our educators deserve support.
Our parents deserve a voice.
And our school deserves accountability.