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Sugar House Journal

Dilworth welcomes new principal

Nov 03, 2017 13h22 ● By Natalie Mollinet

Jeremy Chatterton is Dilworth’s new principal. (Photo courtesty Jeremy Chatterton)

There’s nothing quite like walking into a brand-new school on the first day. Your anxiety is up, you wonder how you’re going to fit in and it’s a whole new world. For Dilworth, their newest student is actually their principal, Jeremy Chatterton who’s moved from teaching high school students to working with elementary students. 

“It’s a really nice transition,” Chatteron said, “it’s nice to see so much learning happening at the elementary level and to see the kids at their starting point, and all the nurturing that goes on.” 

Chatterton has worked with high school students his whole career at Judge Memorial, West High School and Sugar House’s Highland High School. At Judge, he worked as the girls’ basketball coach and did the same at Highland High where he also taught math. While teaching at Highland, former principal Paul Schulte asked him to take on an internship role in Highland administration as an assistant principal. From there he worked at West High and is now the principal at Dilworth elementary. 

Chatterton realized he wanted to work with students as soon as he graduated high school from Judge Memorial while he was coaching the girls’ basketball team. He said he enjoyed making those connections and helping students grow. 

“I just realized I liked being in schools and being a part of that education process and that’s what convinced me to go into teaching,” Chatterton said. 

Chatterton taught math his entire career, adding that algebra was probably his favorite part of math. Even though he likes to teach with numbers, he is an avid sports fan including the University of Utah and of course the Utah Jazz, but when it comes to women’s basketball, his heart belongs to Oregon State where his brother coaches. 

With his love for sports, he has enjoyed having a recess, a commodity that wasn’t a part of the high school curriculum. The students at Dilworth have had fun playing soccer with him and even trying out some jump roping. He loves both teaching and being in an administrative position and says that there’s pros to both positions. 

“They both really have benefits,” Chatterton said about working as a teacher and an administrator, “you don’t get to quite develop the relationship as you do in teaching, I do miss that part of it.” 

Chatterton is hoping that while he is at Dilworth, he’ll be able to make those connections with his new group of students. He said that at a high school level, the population is a lot larger and with an elementary school, it’s smaller and the students are very excited to have him as a new member of their school. 

“I give high fives to the students as they walk into the school, and some choose to come give me hugs,” Chatterton said.

When he’s not giving high fives at school, he’s giving high fives to his kids who attend Beacon Heights Elementary where his wife also teaches. He likes being in the Sugar House area and living so close to work and being able to come home around the same time as his family. 

While Chatterton loves his family, sports and getting to know his students, he’s also excited to be Dilworth’s head dragon and is encouraging all his students to ignite their dragon fire. 

“Dilworth is an amazing school and has an amazing faculty,” Chatterton said talking about what he wants to bring to the school, “I just want to bring and provide the support they need to be successful.”