Community Letter

Dear LISD Families,

Spring Conferences were a success! Thank you to all families and students who participated in conferences. If you and your child did not get the opportunity to meet with a specific teacher, we encourage you to reach out to schedule a time to meet in the near future. We value the partnership that we have with each parent/guardian to support your child to be successful in school.

It's an exciting time for our middle and high school students. Intensives are back and our staff has a fun-filled week planned for students.

There is just one more week of school before Spring Break, so this will be our last community letter before the break. Our next community letter will be on April 21st. We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable spring break!

All our best to you and your family,

Mary and Martha

Join the LIFRC for summer fun and save the dates!

• British Challenger Soccer Camps. June 26-30. Open registration with a fee. Registration opens in April.
• Specialty Camps for Tots: Dates TBD in July/August. Open registration with a fee. Registration opens in May.
• Six weeks of full-day Summer Camp Huckleberry (going into 1st-5th grade) and Summer Camp No Name (6-8th grade): July 10-August 18, Mon-Fri 9 am-4 pm

Free of cost to full-time Lopez resident families – funded by a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. Note that priority will be given to campers who are enrolled in the current After-School Program and attend regularly. For more information and to apply for a spot in the After-School program, visit the LIFRC Website.

Only looking to join Summer Camp? We have a waitlist.

The Lopez Island Farm Education (LIFE) program is partnering with the Lopez Garden Club again this year to offer a plant sale on Saturday, 13. We are seeking plant donations! If you can start a tray of garden vegetables or flowers to donate in May, it would be most appreciated. We are accepting all plant starts except tomatoes. This is a very popular event and we could use more plants to ensure we have a great selection for our community.

Additionally, we are in need of plant pots and trays. If you have any extras please consider donating. 4 inch pots are ideal but will take any size. For more information, please contact Sara Jones, sjones@lopezislandschool.org.

The Lopez Island Family Resource Center is sponsoring and facilitating overnight camps for each of our middle school classes at Camp Moran on Orcas Island. This is part of an outdoor leadership grant secured by the resource center, so no fundraising is necessary for the trip. Aren't we the lucky ones?

Each group will be working with park rangers on interpretive education activities, LIFRC outdoor staff crew on outdoor skill building, and tribal elders from Swinomish, Lummi, or Samish tribes on tribal significance and ecological knowledge of Moran State Park area. 7th and 8th grade groups will take day trips to the outdoor islands, Sucia and Jones.

Permission slips went home with 6th graders yesterday and will be sent home with 7th and 8th graders next week. Dr. Martin sent a letter of explanation and a packing list to parents this evening. Here are the dates:

• 6th grade: April 17-19
• 7th grade: May 22-24
• 8th grade: June 12-14

Great news! We have a generous community member, Larry McMurchie, who would like to use his strengths in math and science to offer some free tutoring. We are offering this to middle school students on Mondays from 3:30-5:00 in Tuoya Deach's room. Our secondary math teachers, Kathryn and Tuoya, will be reaching out to the families of students who may benefit from some extra help in math. Tutoring will start on Monday, March 27.

What’s your earliest memory at LISD? I remember playing kitchen with my friends in kindergarten. One of my classmates saw the fire alarm switch, which was on the wall by our kitchen, so she pulled it and we had to evacuate the whole school.

What clubs/athletics/extracurriculars have you been involved in? In middle school, I played volleyball and basketball. In high school, I’ve done golf and MPPACT.

What is one positive memory from your time here that you’ll carry with you forever? Making our movie for Film Lit last year was great. We had full creative freedom and my group was so great. Everyone was really funny and every time we met, we couldn’t stop laughing. That has been one of my favorite classes.

What is the best piece of advice you have received from a teacher? Every Friday, Ms. Ryan would tell us to make good choices. It’s simple, but I think it’s the best advice.

Finish this sentence: “I cannot live without…….” My friends. I am very grateful for them and I’ve had so many great experiences on Lopez doing fun stuff with my friends.

What is the most creative excuse you have ever used to get out of school work? I haven’t been all that creative with that. I’ve probably just said that I was sick or lost it. I own up to it most of the time.

What is one piece of advice you have for incoming high school students? Something I try to remind myself often is that high school is a small part of your whole life and to not take everything so seriously. Especially being on Lopez, there is so much yet to experience.

What is the most meaningful assignment ever given to you by a teacher? The “This I Believe” essay Mr. Tetu gave us in Cornerstones. We got to pick something we believe in and expand on it as a cornerstone in our life and something we can always rely on.

What’s the most important quality in a friendship? Why? Honesty and communication. They go hand in hand. It’s very important to be truthful with your friends, especially if there is something bothering you.

In 10 years, I will be…: Somewhere warm with at least one cat.

Who/what do you find inspiring? I find my best friend, Sarah, really inspiring. She is caring, brave, and she has a very positive mindset that is infectious. Whenever I’m with her, I can’t help but be happy.

What song summarizes your feelings about graduating from high school? It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over by Lenny Kravitz.

What are your plans after high school? I want to take a gap year and I'm hoping to go to Europe and be involved with the Work Away Program starting in September. You get a place to stay in return for work. I’d like to be somewhere warm like Southern Italy, Greece, or Croatia. After that, I’ll probably go to school and I’m thinking about majoring in business or finance. I’ll probably explore some schools in Europe.

What is one important life lesson you learned in kindergarten? Be Kind to Others.

Is there a book or movie that has changed your life? Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. Reading it put the world in a different perspective for me.

Go Lobos!

Middle school track practice will begin after spring break on Monday, April 17. There is a sign-up sheet on the window of Coach Berg's office.

Students are learning about energy and matter in environmental science. They are making hot chocolate and charging a phone at the same time with a biolite wood cook stove. This is part of a LIEF grant funded project. They will eventually make their own wood stove fans using similar technology as the biolite stove.

Many of these positions qualify for Medical, Dental, Vision, & Retirement benefits, plus paid leave time (personal, sick, & vacation days).

Classified:

· *NEW* Bilingual Paraeducator - Are you fluent in both Spanish and English? We would love to have you work with our secondary students in their classrooms as a Bilingual Paraeducator! This is a daily position starting ASAP.

· Elementary Custodian - perfect for you if you like to work independently! This position helps to clean and maintain the Lopez Island school buildings. This is a 7 hours daily position starting ASAP.

· Paraeducators - Interested in working with students individually, in small groups, and/or in general classrooms and helping assist teachers in modifying student behavior? Then Paraeducator is your dream job, and we have positions available!

· Special Needs Behavior Technician- If you have been thinking about being a Special Needs Behavior Technician for Lopez Island School District...well you are in luck!!!! We are looking for a Special Needs Behavior Technician to hire for this school year!! Behavior technicians are responsible for assisting behavior specialists and the Special Education department to implement behavior reduction and skill acquisition treatment plans. The candidate will assist students with day to day activities, monitor their behavior, record and collect data on students’ progress, and communicate with the team.

· Van Driver - Want to get out and see the island? This transportation position drives a wheelchair van (or another vehicle) to transport student(s) with special needs to and from school. This 3.5 hour per day, Monday through Friday.

- Stipend:

· HI CAP - providing leadership of the Special Service Program for Highly Capable (HC) students, grades K-12, in the Lopez Island School District.

- Substitutes:

· Certificated Teachers

· Paraeducators

· Bus Drivers

· Cooks

You can see full postings on our website! Just go to District Info and then to HR and Employment for more details.

We look forward to working with you!!!

Ed Murray, Superintendent

Martha Martin, Secondary Principal

Mary Fordham, Elementary Principal

The Lopez Island School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employee(s) has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, Ed Murray – emurray@lopezislandschool.org; Title IX Coordinator, HR Specialist, Summer Hagge – shagge@lopezislandschool.org; Section 504, Mary Fordham – mfordham@lopezislandschool.org; OR contact by phone, 360-468-2202, OR mail to 86 School Rd, Lopez Island, WA 98261.

Website: lopezislandschool.org
Location: 86 School Road, Lopez Island, WA, USA
Phone: 360-468-2202