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Holladay Journal

Bonneville Junior High’s new principal talks goals and guidelines for upcoming year

Aug 02, 2021 10:42AM ● By Aloyious Soranno

Bonneville Junior High School’s new principal, Jennifer Johnson, has hit the ground running. (Photo courtesy Jennifer Johnson)

By Aloyious Soranno | [email protected]

Bonneville Junior High School’s new principal, Jennifer Johnson, has hit the ground running. 

“Helping students and teachers reconnect and feel welcome in school,” is her first plan of action. She continued, “We want to help our students and teachers feel a part of a strong Bonneville Viking community.” 

Part of student reintegration back to school after a long summer is for teachers to get them comfortable again, ready to learn. This in turn will relieve some anxieties students may have post pandemic. 

Second on Johnson’s agenda is to “address learning loss in a systematic, focused way.” She does not want students or staff to focus on educational losses but instead, take those losses and turn them into gains that she knows the school, teachers, and students can reach. She said, “Our teachers have done incredible things over the past 18 months and we need to trust their professionalism and expertise.” 

With all of the guidelines with social distancing, masks, quarantine, and even mourning the loss of loved ones due to illness, there is always the concern of mental health issues. That is why Johnson sees the need to “be understanding and aware of the increase in mental health needs and address that many of our students/families/teachers may have experienced trauma over the last 18 months,” she said. 

Bonneville is not letting up on keeping students and faculty healthy either. Proper hygiene will continue to be practiced, including reminders by teachers for their students to keep up with the practice of handwashing and using hand sanitizer. Additionally, the right to wear a mask will be respected. The safety of the students will always be a top priority. 

Lastly, Johnson believes that Bonneville should continue to offer numerous opportunities in academics, athletics, and other programs. She said, “Bonneville has a great history of offering many programs that support student achievement and growth.” And she looks forward to continuing this tradition. 

As the new principal, she is excited to get started and looks forward to a collaborative effort to help start the new school year on a positive note. 

“As a school community, it takes the efforts of many to make things work. These achievements cannot be done by one person. I look forward to the opportunity of working with the Bonneville community to begin rebuilding after a very long year of Covid,” she said.