Skyline High School has a new assistant principal this year, Chris Baker. Even though this is his first year in the job, he says he’s excited to be at Skyline and ready to support both staff and students. 

Baker explained that becoming an assistant principal was something he’s wanted to pursue for a long time. “They actually assign you to where you go; you don’t actually get to pick,” he said. “But I’m very grateful for being here, that’s for sure.” He used to work at West High School and expressed that Skyline has already been very welcoming. 

One of Baker’s main goals this year is building strong relationships, especially with the staff. “I just want them to know they can come to me for anything,” he said. “If I don’t know the answer right away, I’ll work hard to find the solution.” He hopes to also make students feel the same way: “We want to make sure that, even if a student has a concern as small as the cafeteria food, he wants them to feel comfortable reaching out,” he said.

One of our current assistant principals, Ben Anderson, said his first impression of Baker was very good. He explained, “He’s somebody who’s interested in helping out and looks for opportunities to serve and has a positive attitude.” Anderson believes Baker’s leadership will be beneficial for the school. “Part of the leadership style is to lead while helping,” he said. “Whether it be watching a class or picking up trash, trying to make the school a better place.” Anderson also said that Skyline has a rich school culture and lots of traditions: “He’s scratching the surface and finding out what Skyline’s are all about.”

 Baker also explained that good attendance is a crucial part in order for a student to succeed. “If a kid leaves high school with less than 92% attendance, then they struggle in college,” he said. “More important than taking AP or concurrent is not creating the bad habit of not going to school.”

Some of Baker’s strong qualities expressed by Andserson were that “he’s organized, and he wants to help out.” 

Baker’s favorite part about working with high school students is “that they’re at the age where they can still do anything they want.” He also appreciated the fact that students have the opportunity to chase their goals and start fresh, no matter their past. 

Although he has to endure a 45 minute drive from Tooele every morning to get to Skyline, Baker has zero complaints. Skyline is welcoming him nicely, and he is thrilled to continue learning more about Skyline. Like Anderson said, “He’s a welcome addition. We’re glad to have more people here to support our students and teachers.”