Lake Washington School District Parent E-Newsletter
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Welcome to the new Lake Washington School District e-newsletter for parents
Dear Parent or Guardian,
As the parent or guardian of a student in Lake Washington School District, you may recall getting a printed newsletter from the district a few times a year. Those newsletters used to be at least quarterly but budget cuts have caused the frequency to dwindle.
While school newsletters often relay district information, sometimes it's important for all parents to get the same information directly from the district. That's why we are moving this newsletter to an online format. We will send short monthly newsletters that are more timely.
This first edition of the newsletter is being sent to all parent/guardian e-mail addresses we have on file. If you don't want to receive the newsletter, just click "unsubscribe" below. If you want to get it at a different e-mail address, see the other subscription management options below. This newsletter is not exclusive to parents and guardians: feel free to forward it on to others who might want to subscribe, such as a grandparent or interested community member.
If you have comments or suggestions on information you'd like to see in future editions, please e-mail connections@lwsd.org.
Kathryn Reith, Communications Director
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Lake Washington School District Will Not Cut Next Year's Budget
Once the state legislature finished its budget work, the district business office frantically crunched the numbers and came out with this result: while the final state budget includes cuts to state funding of K-12 education, Lake Washington School District will not have to make budget cuts for the 2010-2011 school year. The legislature's local levy authority package as enacted will allow the district to collect enough money in local levy dollars to make up for the amount lost in state funding. Because the budget will be flat for next year, the district will not hold budget input meetings this spring.
"We've gotten a reprieve," noted Dr. Chip Kimball, superintendent. "I'm relieved that cuts ended up being less than anticipated in the proposed budget packages. However, I'm concerned about the state's increasing reliance on local taxpayers to pay for what the state should provide, and am concerned about the loss of federal stimulus dollars in another year." Read more. |
| Understanding the Measurement of Student Progress (MSP)
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for our state has made some changes to the state assessment formerly known as the Washington Assessment of Student Learning or WASL. Instead of having one test, the state now has two: the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) for high school students and the Measurement of Student Progress (MSP) for students in grades 3-8.
The MSP is half the length of the WASL in reading, math and science. These tests will take only one testing session to complete. The writing test remains the same as always and requires two testing sessions to complete.
For parents of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students:OSPI has also made it possible for students to take the MSP online in reading and math. Each school in our district is piloting one online test this year in sixth grade, seventh and eighth grades. You can go online to look at a demonstration of the test tool that students will view (see below).
How to view the MSP demonstration:
1. Go to the following Web site:
2. Click on the Demo link and choose to listen to the demo using audio. We hope this helps you see what your student will experience during the online version of the MSP. Additional information about state testing is available on our Testing & Assessments page. |
Cambridge Program coming to Juanita High School
Juanita High School has been approved by University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), part of the University of Cambridge, as a Cambridge International Center to offer a program of study for the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE). The AICE program involves the selection of subjects from three interdisciplinary curriculum areas - math and science; languages; and arts and humanities -- in preparation for earning an internationally recognized credential equivalent to the British A levels. Juanita will be the second high school on the West Coast to offer the Cambridge AICE program, after Federal Way High School. Read more. |
School Board highlights
Did you know that you can watch school board meetings from your home whenever you want to? School board meetings are streamed live and archived videos are kept on the district Web site. In addition, board agendas, information packets and minutes are available. Just go to http://www.lwsd.org/About/School-Board/Board-Meetings.
At the March 1 school board meeting, The Center for Educational Excellence and Phi Delta Kappa, Washington Chapter, presented the School of Distinction Award to Alcott and Rush Elementary Schools. These schools qualified for the award by being among the top five percent of schools in the state for student test score improvement.
School of Distinction Award presented to Alcott and Rush Elementary Schools at the March 1 school board meeting. |
The board approved monitoring reports on emergency CEO succession, the district's annual report to the public, and student discipline. As part of the Policy Governance process, the board provides guidelines for the superintendent to operate within. The specific areas are set out in the Executive Limitations. The Executive Limitation monitoring reports approved at this board meeting were discussed at the February 8 board meeting.
The next meeting of the board will take place on Monday, April 19, at 7:00 p.m. at the Resource Center, 16250 N.E. 74th St., Redmond.
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Awards & Achievements
Seventh Grade Student Is Youngest Ever Invited to Summer Research Program at MITGabriel See, a seventh grader at Renaissance School of Art and Reasoning, has been invited to attend an all-expense-paid summer research program at the Research Science Institute (RSI) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Each summer, 80 of the world's most accomplished high school students are invited to MIT for the RSI, which is sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education. Edmund Bertschinger, MIT physics professor who supervises students in the program, compares the typical RSI student to the very best MIT sophomore physics major. Read more.
LWSD Students Win Big at Regional History Day Competition
Students from International Community School (ICS), Redmond Junior High (RJH), Rose Hill Junior High (RHJH) and Redmond High School (RHS) participated in the regional National History Day competition on Friday, March 19 in Shoreline. The teams and individuals that will move on to compete in the state championship at Bellevue College on May 1 are listed on the March 24 edition of "News from the Schools." Read more.
21 LWSD Students Named National Merit Finalists
Twenty-one Lake Washington School District students have been selected as finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Competition. As finalists, these students are now qualified to receive National Merit Scholarships, including $2500 awards, corporate-sponsored scholarships or college-sponsored scholarships. About 15,000 students nationally have been named finalists in this competition. Read more.
Have an award or achievement to share?
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4/19 - School Board Work Session, 5 p.m., Board Meeting, 7 p.m., Resource Center
4/27 - PTSA Special Needs Meeting,
Resource Center,
7:00 p.m.
4/28 - Lake Washington Schools Foundation - Legacy for Learning Lunch 2010, 11:00 a.m., Juanita High School
5/3 - School Board Work Session, 5 p.m., Board Meeting, 7 p.m., Resource Center
A full list of events is available on the Tandem Online Calendar. This calendar can be filtered by school and is searchable. More details about the Tandem Online Calendar are available here.
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The fastest way to find out about events, activities and registration dates for community groups is to visit the Community Bulletin Board on your school's Web site. Just visit your school's main page, click "For Parents" then "Community Bulletin Board." To see all approved fliers (not just those for your school); visit the district's community bulletin board.
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The following Parent Education Courses are available:
4/21 - The Young and the Restless: The Social Lives of Our Children
4/29 - Parenting Adolescents in the Home Stretch - Junior and Senior Years
5/18 - Staying Close While Standing Back: The Art & Science of Parenting Your Increasingly Independent Adolescent
For additional information, visit the Parent Education section of the Lake Washington PTSA Council Web site. |
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