This year, Oak Park High School added a new addition to its administration, Assistant Principal Shanna Sarris. On top of her responsibilities as Assistant Principal, Sarris will oversee students’ 504 plans, the counseling department and supervise Career Technical Education.
While this is her first year at OPHS, Sarris is no stranger to the district.
“I’ve been in OPUSD for two years prior to this year,” Sarris said. “I was responsible for the English Language Development program and CTE program for the district.”
With over 25 years of experience in education, Sarris expressed her excitement for the 2024-25 school year and looks forward to getting to know the students.
“This year I’m just looking forward to experiencing what life is like at OPHS and seeing it through the eyes of different students,” Sarris said. “I’m trying hard to build relationships [by attending] different events and clubs so students can get to know me and I can get to know them.”
When she’s not meeting with students or overseeing CTE, Sarris enjoys spending time with her family.
“My family is addicted to Disneyland so we go there about every other week,” Sarris said. “We’re also huge Yankees fans and when baseball season is around, we watch a game every night”.
Sarris recognizes the standards OPHS students hold themselves to and encourages them to take in all that high school offers.
“Everybody needs to take every day in stride and find ways to manage stress and time,” Sarris said. “Although we are a highly academic school, sometimes you need to take a little break and time for yourself. Students should enjoy being in high school because this time only happens once, so [students should] take advantage of everything [they] possibly can.”
