Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Sorted by date Results 137 - 161 of 203
La Conner students are getting their jabs in. Not in terms of any verbal disputes or playground scuffles, but instead when it comes to receiving voluntary vaccinations intended to help protect against the spread of COVID-19. According to school officials, about one-fourth of La Conner students have been vaccinated since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine emergency authorization at October’s end for use in children five to 11-years-old. “Looking at our registration platform, I can see that we hav...
It’s one thing to put your money where your mouth is. In La Conner, people often put their money where their hearts are. And the most recent example of a heartfelt investment here, in this case benefiting La Conner elementary students, is one designed to foster young inquisitive minds well into the future. Responding to a request La Conner elementary dyslexia intervention specialist Jen Gudmundson posted on social media seeking donations to help purchase books for local students, area residents responded almost immediately to the tune of o...
Honesty is always the best policy, though two others that figure prominently with La Conner school officials aren’t far behind. School board members have for the past year championed the crafting and adoption of a district equity policy and at their Oct. 25 hybrid monthly meeting also took initial steps toward beefing up an existing anti-bullying measure. “I am so ready!” board member Amanda Bourgeois exclaimed as the panel inched ever closer to approving the long-sought district equity guidelines. The board in recent months has held detai...
Blue and white are the official colors of La Conner Schools – except two weeks ago, on Sept. 30, when orange shirts were worn instead. And, very likely, annually going forward. The change in garb was no mere fashion statement. It was intended to build public awareness of the atrocities and ensuing historical trauma linked to prior forced attendance and assimilation to white culture imposed upon Indigenous students at residential schools in the U.S. and Canada. The La Conner School Board, following an impassioned presentation last month...
After more than a year of remote and hybrid learning, La Conner schools resumed in-person instruction last week by helping students – though still masked and socially distanced due to COVID-19 – get back into a normal campus routine. To do so, school staff did plenty of summer homework prior to welcoming pupils for last Wednesday’s initial half-day of classes. (Thursday was the first full day of instruction for Grades 1-12, with kindergartners having started yesterday). At the elementary school, a good portion of that homework i...
La Conner teachers welcome students back to class today, a return to full-time in-person instruction for the first time since March 2020. But planning for the Sept. 1 back to school date has been weeks in the making, including a series of summer budget workshops and hearings capped by passage in late July of a balanced $14 million general fund budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year. The school district anticipates $14,070,000 in revenues and expenditures of $14,022,000 during the ’21-’w22 year. The budget was approved during a July 26 hybrid sch...
The countdown is on for the start of school, meaning numbers are now much on the minds of La Conner students, teachers and administrators. That’s especially the case as the La Conner School District begins developing a new math curriculum during the 2021-22 academic year, Superintendent Will Nelson told board members at their nearly two-hour hybrid meeting Aug. 23. His confirmation of the district’s emphasis on math squared nicely with the school panel’s emerging road map for short-term and long-range district goals. “I’d love to see a focus on...
New La Conner School Superintendent Will Nelson cannot stress enough the value of doing one’s homework. That goes for him as well as the nearly 600 students he and school district staff will greet this fall as La Conner transitions from on-line and hybrid instructional models employed last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. School board members chose Nelson this past spring following a rigorous selection process to succeed Rich Stewart as the district’s lead administrator. Nelson had been director of equity and student success at Arl...
La Conner High will remain the home of the Braves. The school district’s board of trustees on Monday formally approved a unanimous Swinomish Tribal Senate resolution supporting retention of the Braves name for La Conner athletic and academic teams. Board president Susie Deyo joined members Amanda Bourgeois, John Agen and Lynette Cram in approving the Senate measure. Board member J.J. Wilbur, who also serves on the Swinomish Senate, abstained. The joint tribal-school district action is in accordance with state legislation passed earlier this y...
Reflection and projection. Those two apparent opposites intersected seamlessly during a five-hour La Conner School Board retreat session on the district campus July 19. Board members and new Superintendent Will Nelson reflected upon the past school year and how it was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic while discussing at length strategies for moving forward in terms of curriculum, budget and capital project goals. The retreat opened with a working lunch outdoors at the elementary school, then shifted inside to the board’s meeting room in the d...
La Conner High School teacher Daniel Castillo believes in giving his students all the tools they need for success. And thanks to a major building trades organization, he will be able to fill their toolboxes when classes resume in the fall. The Building Industries Association of Washington recently presented Castillo a check for $2,500 to purchase tools for a new introduction to residential carpentry class at La Conner that will be part of the school district’s expanded career and technology e...
July 1 started a new month and was the day Will Nelson was sworn in as La Conner’s new school superintendent at a school board meeting called for that purpose. Board chair Susie Deyo called it a very special day, “obviously,” for the school district and for Nelson. She asked Lynette Cram, the longest serving board member, to administer the oath to Nelson. “Excited” was the word most repeated Nelson said he was “super excited to be a part of the community here. I am excited to start the journey...
Recent La Conner High School graduates MacQuaid Hiller and Avery Sloniker enjoyed one last hurrah last week as they closed out their school careers here before taking the next step on their life’s journey. Hiller and Sloniker, graduated June 18 in commencement exercises at Whittaker Field, but were recognized by the school board June 28 for serving as student representatives during a year marked by on-line and hybrid instructional models employed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Board members expressed appreciation for Hiller’s and Slonike...
Mikki Gifford is looking forward to her new role with La Conner schools. Make that, roles. Gifford is the new combination middle school-high school assistant principal and athletic director, a dual post she says is ideal given her extensive background in secondary level academics and extra-curricular activities. She arrives at La Conner after 15 years with the Oak Harbor School District and more than two decades in public education. “I entered the field of education to make a difference,” Gif...
It has often been dark and gloomy during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Friday was not one of those times. At least not for members of the La Conner High Class of 2021 and their families and friends. It was, instead, a rare opportunity to celebrate. Together. Bright sunshine and a spectacular view of Mt. Baker greeted the class and about 500 people attending outdoor commencement exercises at Whitaker Field for what was an often emotional 75-minute program. Valedictorian Sarah Malcomson and...
He rode into town, donned a mask and saved the day. The Lone Ranger? No, but in the eyes of many the above aptly describes La Conner School District Superintendent Rich Stewart, who last summer inherited the reins of a district still reeling from prior labor and contract disputes and political fallout that had seen an almost complete turnover of the district’s board of trustees. Plus, there was COVID-19. Stewart, whose one-year tenure here ends June 30, would be the last person to label what h...
Saying goodbye is never easy. Because of that, La Conner schools softened the departures of those retiring or leaving the district for other jobs with a two-hour farewell celebration heavy on humor at the elementary campus Thursday afternoon. District Maintenance Director Brian Masonholder set the tone in paying tribute to his aunt, custodian Sandy Rowland, retiring after 24 years at La Conner Schools. “She’s the only La Conner Schools employee,” said Masonholder, “who has changed my diaper.” Superintendent Rich Stewart, leaving after ser...
A La Conner High School student group was to have taken a science field trip to the beach last Tuesday on what would have been a perfect warm and sunny outing. But, as has been the case for more than a year, COVID-19 protocols forced a change in plans. Thankfully, due to the adaptability of La Conner school district and the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve staffs, students in the Between Two Worlds Indigenous Science class could still enjoy the beach life. Padilla Bay’s Annie English and Madi McKay brought forage fish eggs to t...
Going on retreat was the best path forward for La Conner schools officials last week. School board members spent their three-hour retreat May 21 applying the finishing touches to the district’s new strategic plan, a process that has been two years in the making. They worked on next year’s budget and discussed capital improvements and naming two new student reps. That set the stage for formal action at its May 24 meeting. Members unanimously adopted a strategic plan designed to create a learning environment in which the academic and social emo...
La Conner students are daily taught the power of critical thinking. School officials are also embracing that lesson as they begin analyzing data collected from surveys whose input will help shape a draft district strategic plan addressing key academic and campus culture goals and objectives. La Conner school board members and administrators hosted a two-hour presentation Monday night by Roni Rumsey, director of professional learning at the Center for Educational Effectiveness. She shared insight into how data analysis can play a vital role in...
The La Conner High School Knowledge program is virtually – and truly – among the best in the country. La Conner’s “Chronically Iliad” team competed earlier this month against schools of all sizes in the inaugural virtual National Knowledge Bowl Tournament, placing fourth among entries from 1A enrollment campuses. Knowledge Bowl coaches Beth Clothier and Christi Malcomson said the La Conner team, which “competed up” as a 2B entry, underwent six rounds of oral and written questions...
Homecoming at La Conner schools will be earlier than usual this year. That is true, at least, for the district’s new assistant principal and athletics director. School Board members last week hired La Conner alum Christine Bruffy Tripp, currently the principal at Concrete High School, to return to her alma mater starting July 1. The board decision was unanimous, with member Lynette Bruffy Cram – Tripp’s sister – recusing herself from the vote. Tripp previously served an administrative internship at La Conner schools, middle and hig...
State lawmakers have decided the time has long since passed that use by public schools of Native American sports mascots goes unchecked. And on that score La Conner schools, home of the Braves, has already proved ahead of the game. The local school district has an established history of responding to Swinomish Tribal Community requests regarding imagery portraying Native Americans, most notably the decision several years ago to substitute an interlocking L and C for tribal caricatures as the school logo. That kind of collaboration is what...
Narrowing the field is not the sole domain of college basketball this month. La Conner school board members last weekend chose two finalists from among 21 applicants for the district’s superintendent position, the last step in a process that began last fall. David Forsythe, assistant superintendent of operations at Northwest Educational Services District #189, which serves 35 public school entities and 170,000 students in Skagit, Island, San Juan, Snohomish and Whatcom counties, and Will N...
The public is encouraged to attend community meetings 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, March 29-30 to meet and interview the finalist candidates for superintendent of the La Conner School District in the Bruce Performing Arts Center Auditorium and Zoom.. Each finalistwill beon campus for events scheduled 8 a.m.-7 p.m. with staff,Swinomish Tribal Senators, an open public community meeting and an executive session with the board. David Forsythe, assistant director from NWESD 189 in Anacortes returns Monday.Will Nelson, director of equity, Arlington...
