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Lake Washington School District Parent E-Newsletter
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Happy Holidays! Enjoy Winter Break
Winter Break begins on Monday, December 19 and extends through Monday, January 2. The first day back is Tuesday, January 3, 2012. |
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Lake Washington School Board selects
Dr. Traci Pierce as preferred candidate for superintendent
Experienced educational leader to continue current initiatives
At its December 5 meeting, the Board of Directors of the Lake Washington School District unanimously voted to put forward Dr. Traci Pierce, the district's deputy superintendent, instructional services, as its preferred candidate for superintendent. The board will introduce Dr. Pierce to the community through a series of public events and will ask for input on her candidacy. A calendar of events and timing for a final vote on hiring will be determined after the holidays. The successful candidate will replace the departing Dr. Chip Kimball, who becomes superintendent of the Singapore American School on July 1.
In making this decision, board members stressed the need for continuity in the face of several major initiatives, including the change in grade configuration next fall and the creation of a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) high school. Board President Jackie Pendergrass noted that as board members spoke to individuals around the district about the opening, what they heard the most was that "people want things we have going forward to take place without a hitch. Don't lose that momentum." Read more. |
Middle School & High School booklets now available
Two publications sent to families and posted on district website
The Middle School in LWSD and High School in LWSD booklets have now been posted on the district website. They were mailed to all families with students in grades five and six (Middle School) and grades eight and nine (High School) this week. These publications show what options exist in this district for middle school or high school students, including choice school and neighborhood school options.
PLEASE NOTE: The fifth and sixth Grade Parent Night for Audubon and Franklin Elementary families at Rose Hill Middle School is January 19, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. The wrong date (January 9) was printed by mistake in the Middle School Options flier. We apologize for the confusion. The corrected booklet is posted on the website. |
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Middle School athletic program changes to interscholastic, intramural mix
Because of the change in grades at the middle level, from grades seven to nine junior high schools to grades six to eight middle schools, principals for these schools have completed a review of their athletic program. Over the past year, principals worked to create an athletic program that aligned with the middle school model. Goals included maintaining a developmentally appropriate program that is equitable among schools, ensures a variety of sports and does not increase student fees. The result is a program that retains some interscholastic sports and adds an intramural component designed to increase overall student participation.
The middle level sports program will include four seven-week interscholastic seasons throughout the year. All sports will serve grades six through eight.
- Season 1 (Sept. 10-Oct. 26) will offer boys' and girls' cross country, boys' tennis and girls' volleyball.
- Season 2 (Nov. 13-Jan. 18) is for boys' and girls' basketball.
- Season 3 (Feb. 4-March 29) is for girls' badminton and boys'/girls' wrestling
- Season 4 (April 22-June 7) is for boys' and girls' track and girls' tennis.
Read more... |
Renaissance to stay at Eastlake
School will move into portables on Eastlake campus next fall
Renaissance School of Art and Reasoning will remain at Eastlake High School. In the fall of 2012, the school will move out of the high school building and into its own mini-campus, a configuration of modular, portable classrooms that will be served with water and plumbing. The same kind of mini-campus of portables is also being built at BEST High School to house Northstar Middle School. Renaissance students will continue to use Eastlake facilities as needed to support the program, such as the gym and the library.
Based on initial projections for Eastlake High School with the addition of ninth grade next year, the district sought a new home for Renaissance to provide more room for Eastlake students. There was no suitable space available in existing buildings in the eastern half of the district. Because of the restrictions on building in unincorporated King County, building a campus for Renaissance on district land also was problematic. A number of options were researched and considered but no suitable option was found.
After updating projections for Eastlake based on current enrollment numbers, it was determined that the Eastlake building with its new addition will be able to accommodate all Eastlake students, including the ninth graders. That freed up for Renaissance School the space reserved for portables in case they were needed for Eastlake students. |
School Board Highlights
View video of any school board meeting on the district website.
Rockwell Elementary School hosted the November 7 meeting, at which students who qualified in the National Merit scholarship program from Juanita and Eastlake High Schools were recognized. The board approved an adjustment to the director districts, required after each census to ensure equitable populations in each district. The results of the survey on the next superintendent were presented. Top issues facing the district were identified as:
- Budget shortfall/decreasing state funding
- Finding and retaining high quality staff
Board President Jackie Pendergrass proposed that board members review the survey results, look at potential internal candidates and decide if that is the way they would like to go. She noted that in the field of education, if a district does an external search, internal candidates normally do not apply. It is harder for them to return to a position if they are not interviewed or selected. The board agreed to take this approach. (See the first article in the newsletter for the results.)
The Eastside Native American Education Program hosted the December 5 board meeting, where students who qualified in the National Merit scholarship program from Redmond High School were recognized... A group of those concerned about the proposed interlocal agreement with the city of Sammamish around converting the baseball field into a multi-purpose field also spoke. The outfield would be covered with artificial turf and lights would be added to the field through a $2 million investment by the city of Sammamish. The goal is creating more access to sports fields in a city that has a shortage of them. Dr. Kimball explained that the baseball field was often not playable due to drainage issues in the outfield. He reassured those concerned that a permanent dirt pitchers mound and dugouts are retained in the plan. The city would schedule field use. Concerns were also raised about access to the field and flexibility of scheduling for the Eastlake baseball team. (Eastlake baseball will have first priority for use.) Concerns were raised about the process used in developing the plan and about who would have priority access after the Eastlake team...Dr. Traci Pierce presented a report on student achievement last year in the district's high schools...The board voted to put forward Dr. Pierce as their preferred candidate for the next superintendent (see article above). |
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Awards & Achievements
District Students Selected for All-State Honor Music Ensembles
Fifty-one outstanding music students from Lake Washington School District have been selected to participate in one of the 2012 WMEA All-State performing groups. The students listed below will join other outstanding high school student musicians from around the state in this gala event held in Yakima February 16-20, 2012.
In addition, 30 outstanding seventh and eighth grade music students from Lake Washington School District have received top honors by being selected to participate in the annual WMEA Junior All-State bands, choirs and orchestra. The students listed below will join more than 375 other outstanding young performers in Bellevue for this gala event on February 18, 2012. Read more.
Eastlake teacher wins Science Teacher of the Year award
William "Bill" Monahan, a biology teacher at Eastlake High School, received the Washington Science Teachers Association (WSTA) Teacher of the Year Award. The selection committee commented that Bill's "deep record of commitment to students, effectiveness in education and outreach are exemplary to younger teachers." Bill has made an incredible contribution to Eastlake as a Science teacher, a mentor, and a leader. Students gravitate to his calm and sagacious presence, and unequivocally love him. They listen and learn from his stories about war and his poems about life. Bill's success as a teacher reverberates across the school. As a Teacher of the Year, Bill received a certificate of achievement, a $500 honorarium to be used at his discretion, and free registration for the WSTA Conference. Read more.
December Staff Star: Amanda Hicks, Family & Consumer Science teacher, Rose Hill Jr. High
Amanda Hicks, Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at Rose Hill Junior High, has only been teaching at the school for three years but is already making a big impact on the staff and students. Not only does she teach Nutrition and Consumer Life Skills, she also serves on a number of committees and teams. She is in charge of the mentor program, advises the yearbook and coaches track. Read more.
Have an award or achievement to share? Send all of the information to Shannon Parthemer, or contact her at (425) 936-1300. |
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12/19-1/2 - No School: Winter Break
1/3 - Welcome Back!
1/4 - GEAC Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Resource Center
1/5 - PTSA Council Meeting, 7 p.m., Resource Center
1/9 - School Board Meeting, 7 p.m., Resource Center
1/16 - No School: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
1/23 - School Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m.
1/24 - PTSA Special Needs Meeting, 7 p.m.
1/27 - Last Day First Semester - Secondary
1/31 - Half Day: Elementary Conferences
2/1 - GEAC Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Resource Center
2/2 - 2/3 - Half Day: Elementary Conferences
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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During the 2010-2011 school year, 158 community volunteers provided 4,399 hours of mentoring and/or tutoring to district students in 22 schools through the LINKS(Looking Into the Needs of Kids and Schools) program. |
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Visit the Parent Education section of the Lake Washington PTSA Council website for information about upcoming Parent Education classes. |
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Lake Washington School District | (425) 936-1200 | www.lwsd.org
The Lake Washington School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, gender, marital status, creed, religion, honorably discharged veteran, military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, or the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability, in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. |
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