La Conner, Conway school officials meet

La Conner Schools officials did more than welcome their counterparts from Conway with open arms last Monday.

School board president Susie Gardner Deyo also presented the Conway contingent with floral bouquets.

“She’s a garden club person,” La Conner board member John Agen explained as Conway Superintendent Jeff Cravy and board representative Amy Hughes gratefully received the flowers.

Gardner and the La Conner Schools team held the nearly two-hour special dinner meeting to discuss shared educational goals and to plant seeds with Conway campus leaders about what the high school here can offer graduating eighth graders from the non-aligned K-8 district 13 miles southeast of town.

Graduating Conway eighth graders have their choice of where to attend high school. Most enroll at Mount Vernon High, six miles distant, which offers transportation for students without driver’s licenses.

“That’s a big draw,” said Cravy, “at least for the first two years because they can’t drive yet.”

Conway graduates have also chosen to attend high school in Stanwood, in north Snohomish County, and La Conner.

“We get five to six students from Conway a year,” La Conner Superintendent Will Nelson said, “because it’s close and a small school. They tend to do well here.”

“As a community,” said Hughes, “the choice of high school by our eighth graders is a big step for our families.”

La Conner Schools, faced with declining enrollment, has made it a priority to more robustly market itself to Conway.

Ironically, Conway board member Dr. Ben Winkes, is a La Conner High alum and former Braves’ basketball standout. His dad is retired La Conner High Principal Ken Winkes, who was a columnist for the old Channel Town Press newspaper and was among those who launched the La Conner Community Scholarship Foundation.

Dr. Winkes was on call last Monday and unable to attend the joint dinner meeting.

Those able to attend briefly shared biographical information and then compared notes on respective school programs, calendars, and special events. La Conner reps learned that Conway holds an annual parade the week before school starts and offers a Skagit History course.

Everyone at the table felt that Conway’s Skagit History class and course offerings at La Conner such as Lushootseed language skills lend themselves to combined field trip and guest speaker opportunities.

“It would be great for teachers to get together with one another to come up with ideas on how to collaborate,” Nelson said.

Cravy said Conway enrolls 430 K-8 students, 58 in this year’s eighth grade. Not all, he noted, reside in the Conway area.

“We have quite a few out-of-district students,” he said. “To an extent, it depends on where people work. They may come from Arlington, for instance, if a parent works in Mount Vernon.”

Cravy said Conway fields teams in soccer, cross-country, basketball, and volleyball.

“How can your girls who play volleyball go anywhere other than La Conner?” quipped Agen, referring to the storied Lady Braves net program, which has delivered multiple state championships, including the 2022 State 2B crown.

Hughes said she is a huge supporter of small schools.

“I’m excited that the state of Washington is realizing that small schools are important,” she said. They’re realizing that small schools have something to offer.”

La Conner, which at one time was a 1A district with around 700 students, projects just 490 K-12 pupils next school year.

Both Conway and La Conner are rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated remote on-line instruction for parts of two school years.

“We’re rebuilding our band program,” Cravy said. “COVID didn’t do us any favors.”

The La Conner and Conway school leaders are hopeful the two districts can help one another deal with post-pandemic challenges, of which enrollment---a major driver of state funding to public schools---is just one factor.

“As we build our calendars in the summer,” Deyo suggested, “let’s thing of doing something like this next year in Conway.”

Nelson agreed.

“I’m just grateful for us to get together,” he said. “It’s great to collaborate. It’s just awesome.”