board to board
March - April 2021
News from the Board of NWESD
A Note from Our Superintendent It likely wouldn’t come as a surprise or understatement to suggest that few, if any, of us could have predicted a year ago the journey a global pandemic would take us on over the ensuing months. When we went into lockdown, I, like many, presumed that by the start of summer – or certainly by the start of the 2020-21 school year – life would return to something that looked more like the old normal than the new normal. Clearly, that was a wildly misplaced notion. Over the past year, the sources of exasperation, disappointment, and pain have been numerous: students and staff confined to a largely remote learning environment that has been lacking for many; a firehose of guidance and directives from multiple branches of government that often seem disjointed and constantly shifting; very real and growing concerns about the mental and physical toll being exacted by prolonged physical and social isolation; endless Zoom sessions where the two-dimensional interface and video and audio muting options can make the simplest of interactions exhausting; and of course the tragic loss of life as nearly 1 in every 600 Americans, and counting, has perished from a silent and insidious virus. This list no doubt barely scratches the surface of the challenges we’ve collectively endured over the past year. It’s been a hard time. Yet recent weeks have brought a growing sense of optimism that we’re seeing the beginning of the end. Growing rates of vaccination certainly play a huge part in this. So too does the collective experience and knowledge that has been built over the past year about what works to reduce the rates of virus transmission. Oddly, in a time when necessity has dictated that we must limit our social interactions and connections to stay safe, those same preventative measures have also required us to be more mutually dependent and reliant on each other than ever before. Washing hands, wearing masks, and keeping distance work most effectively when we all follow those practices. Taking those health and safety measures seriously is as much about the wellness of a complete stranger than it is about your own health and safety. It is collective action for the general good at its finest. Maybe it’s just my excitement at seeing a pathway back to greater normalcy, but I have sensed in recent weeks a definite and positive change in our willingness and commitment to each other. I believe we’re seeing the results of that in lowered community infection rates and more kids receiving in-person instruction. That same sense of collective action for the common good will be sorely needed as we contemplate all that will be required to reintegrate all students and staff back into our schools. They will need our best energy and commitment more than ever in the coming months and years. The efforts and emphasis will be different than the past year, but the work will nonetheless be just as challenging, if not more so. Together, I am confident in our ability to join hands and hearts for the collective benefit of those who have been most impacted by the disruption to learning of the past year. We’ve got this…I’m sure of it!
Larry Francois
NWESD Superintendent
New Regional Superintendents
Dr. Ken Collins
Lake Stevens SD
Matt Galley
Nooksack Valley SD
Dr. Miriam Mickelson Sedro-Woolley SD
Resignation Announcement Long-time board member Claudia Talmage has announced her resignation from the NWESD Board of Directors. Claudia represented NWESD District 4 (Coupeville, Lakewood, Mukilteo, Oak Harbor, South Whidbey, StanwoodCamano) for 17 years, as well as served for 10 years on the Oak Harbor School Board.
Claudia Talmadge
The NWESD staff and board would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Claudia for her thoughtful and impactful service in public education to the NWESD board and beyond.
NWESD Board District 4 - 17 years
Early Learning in Washington State In Washington State, school attendance isn’t compulsory until age 8. It is a child’s age that determines their initial placement in school, rather than any previous experience or demonstration of skills. Entering kindergarten students must be five and first graders must be six on or before midnight on August 31st of the year they’re entering school. School districts may adopt regulations that provide for individual exceptions to these qualifications, which are usually applied to permit early entry to a student who is not yet age-eligible. Over the next few months, OSPI will be releasing guidance for enrollment in the early grades, as well as resources for starting the school year, extending the transition-to-school experience, and supporting differences in prior learning. Excerpts from the February 2021 OSPI Early Learning E-Newsletter
AESD 2021 Updates
PPE: AESD Network/ESD 112 Purchasing Cooperative
Inclusionary Practices Project (IPP) Update
The NWESD, as part of the Association of Educational Service Districts (AESD), has been actively engaged in assisting schools as they work to safely support staff and students as instructional services proceed remotely and in-person.
To date, the AESD IPP is serving 140 building leadership teams in Washington State, with 16 school teams in the NWESD region. Regional IPP Coordinators help school teams to engage in professional learning around systems, culture and instructional change, and develop multi-year action plans to implement inclusionary practices at their schools. All professional learning modules are available to the school teams for the next five years and the NWESD is investigating continued partnership for our 16 school teams as they implement change in the years to come. https://bit.ly/2SVB0f4
Throughout the month of February, truckloads of second-round PPE supplies for school districts and private schools in the NWESD region arrived in Anacortes. Our hard-working staff unloaded and sorted the shipments into organized piles in preparation for fulfilling district/school orders. These PPE supplies were ordered through the AESD Network/ESD 112 purchasing cooperative and are being picked up by grateful school district staff on a daily basis until all second-round supplies have been distributed.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) The AESD LMS Solutions team launched its Regional Educator Network (REN) on February 10th, with educators across the state collaborating through live sessions. The upcoming March 17th REN theme of The Power of Educators will offer participants a menu of professional development opportunities. Registration is open and we continue to offer new resources and asynchronous courses in LMS 101 series, Best Practices for Continuous Learning, and REN HUB. For more information please visit >> http://bit.ly/38b1LUR
Charles Crabtree, District 1 Bellingham, Meridian
Dr. Jack Thompson, District 2 Blaine, Ferndale, Lopez Island, Lynden, Mount Baker, Nooksack Valley, Orcas Island, San Juan Island, Shaw Island Mark Venn, District 3 Anacortes, Burlington-Edison, Concrete, Conway, Darrington, La Conner, Mount Vernon, Sedro-Woolley Vacant Position, District 4 Coupeville, Lakewood, Mukilteo, Oak Harbor, South Whidbey, Stanwood-Camano
Educational Service Districts have served Washington State for almost fifty years, providing vital services and functioning as advocates for local districts. Northwest Educational Service District 189 (NWESD) serves Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, Island, and San Juan counties. NWESD’s more than fifty programs are organized into seven departments to serve you: Administration, Early Learning, Fiscal Services, Prevention Center, Special Programs and Services, Teaching and Learning, and Technology Services. Please visit us on our website at nwesd.org for more information on each of these departments.
Dr. Alan Erickson, District 5 Everett
Cory Duskin, District 6 Arlington, Granite Falls, Index, Marysville, Sultan Claudia Buxton, District 7 Edmonds, Mukilteo
Sue Phillips, District 8 Edmonds, Mukilteo
Merle Kirkley, District 9 Lake Stevens, Monroe, Snohomish
We invite you to view NWESD’s Annual Report for the 2019-20 school year online >> www.nwesd.org/19-20-ayear-in-review/
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