Connections - Lake Washington School District Parent e-Newsletter

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Lake Washington School District Parent E-Newsletter

September 15, 2010

Strategies for space: addressing overcrowding in Lake Washington School District

In elementary schools around the district this September, the scramble was on to find enough classroom space for all the students arriving through our doors. About 650 more students showed up than last year, exceeding increased enrollment projections. By the fall of 2012, there will be over 1,000 more students in our system than our classrooms can accommodate. The move to four-year high schools in the fall of 2012 actually helps the situation, by moving students out of our overcrowded elementary schools and into the high school level, where more space is available.

Strategies to handle the increased numbers of students include changing boundaries, running two shifts at high schools (morning and afternoon), adding portables, building new classrooms and building new schools.

Your input is needed!
Please attend one of three input workshops to give the district your preferences and advice for meeting these space needs. Come in any time during the hours scheduled to get information, ask questions, take the survey and make comments.

Overcrowding input session schedule:
Tuesday, September 28, Eastlake High School, 6-8 p.m.
Thursday, September 30, Juanita High School, 6-8 p.m.
Wednesday, October 6, L.E. Scarr Resource Center, Redmond Town Center, 5:00-7:30 p.m.

If you cannot attend one of these sessions, the information and survey will also be available on the district website by September 25. The survey will close October 7.

Make sure your students are counted: Transportation State Count Week is Sept. 24 - 30

Each day during the week of September 24 - September 30, bus drivers will count students on their morning routes, as a part of Transportation Count Week. These counts determine the amount of funding Lake Washington School District receives from the state for student transportation.

Please encourage students to ride buses to school this week. State funding only accounts for approximately 60 percent of the annual budget for transportation and the rest comes from the general fund. The larger the count, the less impact transportation has on the general fund budget and more money that is available for classroom and other purposes.

If your student plans to ride the bus to school this year, please be sure that they take the bus the week of Friday, September 24 - Thursday, September 30 so they can be counted!

New elementary Parent Teacher Conference format and dates

Parent-teacher conferences have been just that in Lake Washington School District for years: a chance for parents and teachers to discuss a student's progress. This year, they will have one more dimension: student-involved conferences will allow students to set goals and reflect on his/her work with significant adults in his/her life. Because of the change to student-involved conferences, you (as parents) will be more involved in academic goals your child has set for him or herself and better understand how to support attaining his or her goals. You will also be provided with time during conferences to privately discuss issues with the teacher without your child being present.

To support the new structure, this year's conferences will be held earlier - in October instead of November. The dates will be October 21, 22 and 25 in the afternoon and evening (these will be half-days for elementary students). A second set of conferences in January will give you, your student and their teacher an opportunity to check in on how your student is doing in working toward their goals this year.

What to do to prepare for October Conferences:

Work with your student's teacher to schedule the conference on October 21, 22 or 25.
Plan to bring your child with you to those conferences.
Plan to bring a quiet activity for your child to do while you meet with his/her teacher privately.

Elementary Quest Parent Information Night

The Elementary Quest Program for Highly Capable Students (Grades 1-6) will accept applications for the 2011-2012 school year from October 11, 2010, until 4 p.m. on November 5, 2010.

The Elementary Quest program offers two options for students who demonstrate superior ability, who exceed grade level standards in literacy and math, and who exhibit exceptional creativity in the classroom.

Full time students are enrolled in an accelerated, self-contained classroom for the full day, five days a week.
Enrichment Pull-Out students attend their home school four days a week and a pull-out enrichment class one day a week.

More information can be found in the Quest Information packet that will be available at all elementary schools, on the Quest website and at the Quest Office on the third floor of the Resource Center (16250 NE 74th Street, Redmond, WA 98052). You can also contact the Quest Office at (425) 936-1238 or via e-mail: Quest@lwsd.org.

All parents interested in the Quest Program are invited to attend one of the Quest Elementary Information Night sessions on Thursday, October 7 from 4:30 - 6 p.m. or 7 - 8:30 p.m. at Rose Hill Junior High School (13505 NE 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052). This program will explain more specifically what Quest offers to highly capable, academically gifted children. If you plan to bring your children to the information session, we would recommend that you attend the early meeting.

LWSD students continue to outperform state on new standardized tests

The watchword for state testing this year was "new." The WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) was out: the new tests were the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) for grades three through eight and the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) for 10th grade. The math MSP was not only a new test but it also assessed new learning standards. And online testing was new for students in grades six through eight. Read more.

Federal "AYP" data confuses achievement picture: label is an all or nothing designation

By most measures, Inglewood Junior High is a high-performing school. Over 83 percent of students meet or exceed the state standard in reading and over 84 percent in math at the seventh grade level. When the inaugural Washington Achievement Awards were given out last year, Inglewood was recognized for overall excellence. Yet according to the federal government's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmark, Inglewood Junior High is not a success, along with many schools in Lake Washington and other high-performing school districts. Read more.

Lake Washington School District SAT scores increase: state and national scores split

Lake Washington School District (LWSD) seniors scored higher overall on the SAT last spring than previous years. District students continue to score well above state and national averages. District scores by subject increased in the reading and writing tests while dropping one point on mathematics. At the same time, Washington state and national scores gained one point on average in math and remained the same in reading. State scores gained an average of one point in writing while national averages fell one point.

Over the last five years, average SAT scores in Washington and nationally have fallen or remained the same. At the same time, Lake Washington's average scores have increased 11 in math, 13 in critical reading and 14 in writing on average. Read more.

School Board Highlights

At the September 13 meeting, the board recognized Nancy Pfaff, a teacher at Horace Mann Elementary, who is one of four teachers statewide selected as finalists for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teacher (PAEMST).

Lake Washington Schools Foundation President Terri Blier introduced new Executive Director Doug Seto. Seto noted a change in the school grant program to an emphasis on spring grants, which would provide more planning time so the programs that grants support could begin in the fall. The grants will also be more focused on supporting schools in their Continuous Improvement Plans.

Board President Jackie Pendergrass noted her appreciation for the contributions the Foundation, the PTSAs, booster groups and other organizations make each year to Lake Washington School District. By her calculation, over $1 million was contributed to the district last year, with a four-year total of $4.5 million.