We, the undersigned members of the Eaglecrest High School community—including staff, students, families, alumni, and community members—respectfully urge the Cherry Creek School District Leadership Team and the Board of Education to commit to a full, fair, authentic, inclusive, and transparent process to identify the next principal of Eaglecrest High School.

With Principal Gwen Hansen-Vigil’s announced retirement at the end of this school year, Eaglecrest faces one of the most consequential leadership transitions in its history. Eaglecrest serves an extraordinarily diverse, vibrant, and deeply invested student population and community—one marked by pride, resilience, and a strong sense of belonging. The decision surrounding its next principal will shape our culture, staff retention, and—most importantly—student outcomes for years to come.

Eaglecrest’s culture has been built through deliberate leadership practices. Eaglecrest has a longstanding commitment to thoughtful, inclusive, and transparent hiring processes for all staff positions—processes that involve multiple stakeholders, open forums, and meaningful interaction with candidates and that have been central to building trust and shared ownership of our school’s direction. When leadership transitions are handled openly and inclusively, they strengthen confidence, morale, and long-term stability—and create the conditions in which students are most likely to thrive. When they are handled without a clear, transparent process— as staff have been informed may occur this year—trust erodes, morale suffers, continuity is placed at risk, and the stability that supports student success is undermined. For these reasons, the process surrounding Eaglecrest’s next principal carries significant weight.

Given the importance of these conditions for a successful leadership transition, we are deeply concerned by the possibility that Eaglecrest’s next principal could be appointed without a full, fair, authentic, and transparent search of qualified candidates.

Regardless of intent, any appointment made without transparency risks being perceived as an effort to exert control over a school community—particularly in the current context, where recent public investigative reporting included a letter co-authored by Ms. Hansen-Vigil raising concerns about district leadership. In this environment, an administrative decision made without an open process or meaningful staff involvement can easily be interpreted as retaliatory rather than procedural. Even if not rooted in fact, such perceptions undermine trust, destabilize school culture, and significantly harm morale.

Throughout public education, appointments are widely understood to be mechanisms that can be used to force staff turnover, silence dissent, and rapidly reshape a school’s culture. Whether or not such motives exist, avoiding this perception is essential. The only way to do so is through a full, fair, authentic, inclusive, and transparent process where the Eaglecrest community can meet candidates, hear their visions, and trust how decisions are made.

We are not requesting the right to select the next principal. We are requesting a process that allows our community to understand who may be entrusted with leading our school.

This distinction matters because Eaglecrest is not a school in need of rescue—it is a high-performing school with clear momentum and measurable results for students:

• Since the 2017–2018 school year, Eaglecrest has increased the percentage of students meeting college- and career-readiness benchmarks in PSAT/SAT Reading and Writing by nearly ten percentage points—exceeding the growth of all other high schools in the district by more than ten percentage points.
• From the 2023–2024 to the 2024–2025 school year, Eaglecrest demonstrated the highest year-over-year growth in PSAT/SAT Math among high schools in the district.
• Eaglecrest has exited the highest percentage of students from READ plans of any high school in the district.
• Since 2018–2019, Eaglecrest has significantly increased both Advanced Placement participation and success, raising the percentage of AP students earning a score of 3 or higher from 65.2% to 84.9% while expanding the number of students taking AP exams—producing the strongest combined growth in access and performance among district high schools.
• Eaglecrest leads the district in providing students with access to college credit, enrolling more students in concurrent enrollment courses than any other high school.
• Eaglecrest enrolls a higher percentage of students at the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus (CCIC) than any other high school in the district, expanding access to industry pathways, professional certifications, and real-world career preparation.
• Eaglecrest currently maintains the highest attendance rate of any high school in the district.
• Eaglecrest consistently earns state championships and top-level statewide honors in athletics, band, and theatre, alongside continued excellence in AVID, DECA, Robotics, Speech and Debate, and the fine arts.

These outcomes reflect years of intentional leadership, systems development, staff collaboration, and cultural stability. Any leadership transition must build upon—not destabilize—this trajectory.

Given Eaglecrest’s size, reputation, and results, this principalship represents an exceptionally attractive leadership opportunity. There are undoubtedly highly qualified candidates within Eaglecrest itself, within the district, within Colorado, and across the country who would welcome the opportunity to lead one of the state’s most dynamic comprehensive high schools.

A transparent, inclusive search honors the importance of this role. It communicates confidence, professionalism, and a genuine commitment to selecting the very best leader—rather than advancing outcomes that risk being perceived as opaque, predetermined, or driven by considerations other than what is best for students and the school community.

Thus, we respectfully urge the Cherry Creek School District Board of Education to:

1. Publicly commit to a full, transparent principal hiring process for Eaglecrest High School
2. Ensure structured involvement of staff, students, and community members
3. Provide clear communication about the timeline, procedures, and decision-making criteria

We offer this petition in the spirit of advocacy—for our students, our families, and the long-term health of Eaglecrest High School. We care deeply about this school. We are proud of what it has become. We believe the next principal must be selected through a process that reflects its importance.

Such a process is not simply symbolic. It shapes staff confidence, morale, and long-term commitment. When stakeholders are meaningfully included, the selected leader begins their tenure with trust, legitimacy, and the collective support necessary to move a school forward.

Signed,

Members of the Eaglecrest High School community