A familiar face is returning to Strathmore High School (SHS); after spending time as the principal at Wheatland Crossing School, former SHS Associate Principal Doug Raycroft will now be the principal!

Raycroft was with SHS from 2009-2017 before he went to Wheatland Crossing. Now, he's making a return to fill the position previously held by Kyle Larson. Raycroft says he's excited to make his return.

"I'm excited to go back and work with Strathmore High School. It's a lot bigger school than where I was, I'm looking forward to it. The athletics and our academic focus... there's a lot of things at Strathmore High School that are awesome."

While going to SHS will be great, Raycroft added that he likes Wheatland Crossing as well, and will miss working there.

"It's a little bit bitter sweet, I did like the school I was at, it's a great school. But an opportunity came open to go to Strathmore High School and it's a bigger school, closer to home for me, so I'm excited."

SHS isn't a new environment for Raycroft, which he thinks will help with the transition. While it will still take time to build relationships with the community, parent council and staff, Raycroft says he already knows most of the staff.

"I have relationships with a lot of the staff already, good working relationships. That always helps to speed up the process a little bit when you already have some trust built."

Raycroft added that community is a big focus for him. He says he learned about the importance of community from his time at Wheatland Crossing.

"I have a new focus on how important community is. Of course, Strathmore is a lot bigger, but that's one of the things I want to really focus on is trying to get that big community a little bit closer to the school."

With any school, the focus is always on the students themselves. Raycroft hopes to build a supportive environment for students to thrive.

"We want to make sure that all students have adults they can lean on and trust, so when times are tough there's always somewhere to go. I know that the supports for families and students at Strathmore High School are awesome and they have a lot of support with Golden Hills School Division as well. We just want to make sure that we are supporting our students and pushing them to be the best people they can be, the best citizens and the best students."

Wheatland Crossing School's new principal will be Michelle Hilton.

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