Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, and Visitors,

Welcome to the home of the Islanders

As I enter my 27th year in education, I am thrilled be the next Principal of Middletown High School. My educational journey began in Cranston RI where a number of dedicated educators instilled in me the love of learning, caring, and the ability grow my skill set with every new challenge I encountered. As a first generational college student, there was no script for me to follow. Having teachers that believed in me inspired me to be a teacher as well.

I graduated from the University of RI in 1996 after completing my student teaching at Westerly High School where I was fortunate to remain as an English teacher and Guidance Counselor until 2005. At which time, I pivoted my career to North Kingstown High School as a Guidance Counselor, the first Guidance Department Chair, eventually advancing to two Assistant Principal positions; Student Services and Teaching and Learning. After 16 years, I was grateful for the opportunity to return to Westerly Public Schools serving as an Assistant Principal at both Westerly Middle School and Westerly High School. It was an honor to accept the position at Middletown High School as Principal this past spring.

It is here that the sense of community cannot be ignored. To that end, I am honored to lead this dedicated staff and school to high levels of rigor, create academic curiosity and to instill a sense of pride and purpose for all our students. A comprehensive high school ought to offer a variety of options so that students graduate ready for career and college after graduation. Student voice is an important part of this process to ensure that we are capturing the wants and needs of our MHS community as they become ready to be global citizens.

Please know that our staff and school are ready to meet the demands of a high-quality education that includes all voices to be part of the process. Our students deserve the very best from all the adults in their world. We are here to assist in that process.

Please reach out, be an active member of our school community as we rebuild our resiliency is in post-COVID world. Our focus is to increase Executive Functioning Skills for our students do that when the embark on deep learning, they can do so with grit and grace.

Warm regards,

Mrs. Sweet

Email: dsweet@mpsri.net

Phone: (401) 846-7250