Three new principals in area elementary schools

Three new principals have been hired for elementary schools in the San Juan School District. They will begin their new assignments in August.
Sheryl Soderstrom is the new principal at Monticello Elementary School. Soderstrom served as an elementary school principal in Sanders, AZ before moving to Monticello in 2006. She has served as the vice principal at Monticello High School for the past five years.
Soderstrom takes the place of Lance Hatch, who is the new supervisor of elementary schools for the school district.
Mark Burge is the new principal at Montezuma Creek Elementary School. Burge has served as a teacher and administrator in the Canyons School District in the Salt Lake Valley for several years. He and his family plan to live in the teacher housing in Montezuma Creek.
Burge takes the place of Rebecca Benally, who served as principal at Montezuma Creek Elementary for the past decade.
Patricia Whitfield is the new principal at the newest school in the district, Tsébii’nidzisgai Elementary School at Monument Valley. Whitfield worked for years in the academic field, supervising the training of elementary school teachers at Westminster College in Salt Lake City and more recently, in Arkansas. She has written books on the education of Native American children and most recently worked as an education consultant.