Breaking ground and Building on Success

2017 is an exciting time for Lake Washington, and June especially brings much to celebrate with our students, staff, parents and community. It is a time of growth, opportunity and success. We are breaking ground on new schools, preparing to graduate the Class of 2017, and getting ready to welcome a new class of kindergarteners in the fall: the Class of 2030!

As we break ground on new schools, we are quite literally Building on Success. Building on Success is the name for our community-developed, long term plan to continue to build schools and classrooms and to provide quality learning environments and experiences for our students. To date we have held groundbreaking ceremonies for the new elementary school in North Redmond and for the new Juanita High School. The ceremonies for the other new schools will soon occur.

Great communities make schools great, and we very much appreciate the support of our parents, community members, and city and business leaders in supporting the 2016 bond measure that passed, making the new schools a reality today.

At the groundbreaking ceremony for Juanita High School, I had the opportunity to share a few words, and talked a bit about yesterday and the past – specifically about 1971. In 1971 a gallon of gas cost 40 cents and a US stamp was 8 cents. Popular films included Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Dirty Harry, and Fiddler on the Roof. Flare jeans and belted turtlenecks were popular. Three Dog Night’s Joy to the World topped Billboard’s list of hot 100 singles.

1971 was also a time of growth and change. In 1971, Apollo 14 lifted off on the third successful lunar landing mission. Back in 1971, Walt Disney World opened in Orlando Florida. Intel released the world’s commercially available microprocessor, the Intel 4004. And back in 1971, Juanita High School originally opened as a groundbreaking new school in Lake Washington School District.

Since 1971 the current Juanita High School has proudly served thousands and thousands of students. Over the past 46 years I estimate approximately 69,000 students have graduated from Juanita. Today we recognize and honor the past as we look to the future and to 2020, when a new Juanita High School will open and continue a great legacy of proudly serving the Juanita Learning Community.

As superintendent, each June I have the honor and privilege of sharing a few words with all Lake Washington School District graduates in the form of a letter to graduates. This year was an especially meaningful time for me to share with graduates as I prepare to attend my 30th high school reunion this summer. This year I was also inspired by 2017 being the 40th anniversary of Star Wars. My letter to the Class of 2017 is posted here if you would like to read it.

Thank you for another great school year. We are looking forward to 2017-18.

We are proud to be LWSD!