Sitka High School principal Sondra Lundvick resigned last week, just six weeks before the start of the school year.
In an email announcing her resignation to staff on July 1, Lundvick thanked employees and said she would “always cherish” her time in Sitka and at Sitka High School.
Lundvick has been a Sitka High School administrator for the past decade. She took over the role of principal in 2020.
Ariel Starbuck teaches Spanish at Sitka High. She said Lundvick has been a strong advocate for staff and students, especially in guiding the school through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You know, she came into being the principal during COVID and really stepped up into that leadership role,” Starbuck said. “We were able to keep school sort of functioning normally when a lot of schools around the state weren’t, and I think that is one of her big landmarks that she’ll leave with us.”
Starbuck said that the principal fills many roles at the school, and that Lundvick will be hard to replace.
“I think the high school principal is one of the difficult jobs in our school district,” she said. “As far as time commitment, you know, I think she was there around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. every morning, and then probably never left earlier than 4 p.m. She shielded us from a lot of things so that we could keep doing our jobs.”
The school district posted an opening for the position on July 1 with a start date of August 7. Neither Lundvick nor district superintendent Deirdre Jenson could be reached for comment.
