This newsletter is just one way to stay in touch with what is happening in the district. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for up-to-date news and information.

 

New and international families virtual welcome event 

Lake Washington School District, in coordination with Lake Washington PTSA, is hosting a virtual welcome event for our new and international families on Wednesday, September 29 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity for families to learn about our district and to increase engagement. Here is the event link: https://tinyurl.com/WelcomeEvent2021

Live captions for the event will be available in Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. For more information, visit www.lwptsa.net. If you have any questions, please email Danit Erlich: redmondavp@lwptsa.net. 

 

Accelerated Programs application information

The online application for Highly Capable Services is now available, starting on September 8, 2021, and we anticipate the application closing at 4:00 p.m. on October 1, 2021.

Additionally, the information nights that we typically host in person for our accelerated programs will be virtual this year. We have uploaded an informational video about our Accelerated Programs that you can view on our website at https://www.lwsd.org/programs-and-services/accelerated-programs. 

Students may be referred by parents or other individuals, including teachers, other staff, or a member of the community. All students in first grade will be screened in the fall so referrals for students in that grade will not be accepted. Referrals can be made for students in all other grades K-7 during the application window.

Individuals making a referral must use the District-provided online referral form. Please submit only one referral per student. The District’s referral process may include screening procedures as allowed by state statute.

For more information, please visit the district website. 

 

Advanced Placement exam registration information for 2021-22 school year 

College Board has continued with the fall ordering deadlines. To meet the College Board ordering deadlines, Lake Washington School District students will register for AP exams from September 10, 2021, to the end of the last lunch on October 8, 2021. The payment window for all exams will be September 8, 2021, through October 22, 2021. We encourage all students wanting to take May 2022 AP exams to complete the registration and pay for their exams during this registration window. CollegeBoard has reinstated the $40 cancellation fee for the 2021-22 school year. 

For students that may still be deciding in October if they want to take AP exams in May, LWSD is offering a LATE AP Exam Registration window from February 1, 2022 through end of last lunch on February 16, 2022. Students who register during the late AP Registration window will incur a $50 per exam late fee in addition to the $98 per exam fee.

Read more about the Advanced Placement exam registration.

 

Current COVID-19 data for in-person learning in LWSD 

Lake Washington School District takes all positive COVID-19 cases seriously. We have a comprehensive COVID-19 Positive Case Report Response process that includes reporting the case to Public Health, communicating information as needed to affected staff, parents/students (also called close contacts), and implementing our cleaning protocols that includes cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing work spaces as required. The information collected from this process is placed in a Health and Safety Dashboard on the LWSD website. 

 

Preparing for our future

#WeAreLWSD

LWSD’s vision centers on graduating students Future Ready. As a district, our goal is to provide students with the best learning environments possible and provide classrooms for our ever-growing student population. We want to ensure our students have safe school facilities and access to technology for learning. We also want to ensure our students have access to the staff, programs, and course offerings they need to be successful and ultimately graduate Future Ready.
School districts in Washington state rely on funding from two primary sources:

• State Funding - pays for what the state deems “Basic Education”
• Local Funding - through bonds and levies, local funding pays for important programs, services, and operations that are not funded by the state.

School districts rely on local levy funds to fund operations, programs, staff, technology and classroom space – all items that are not funded by the state. LWSD currently has an Educational Programs & Operations Levy (EP&O), and a Capital Technology Levy. These levies need to be renewed every four years in order for the district to continue to fund these items. Our last renewal was in 2018. We will need to renew these levies again in 2022. 

The board is also reviewing options for future construction funding. Neither the state nor federal money is available for the bulk of construction costs. Local districts are responsible for raising their own money through levies and bonds to provide for additional classrooms needed due to enrollment growth.

LWSD is currently planning for ballot measures in February 2022. A recommendation will be presented to our Board of Directors in October for them to take formal action. Please look for further information in upcoming editions of this newsletter.

For more information, please visit the district website to view the following:

• Educational Programs & Operations (EP&O) Levy
• Capital Projects Levy
• LWSD Construction

For more information about how School Funding works.

 

2021-22 Registration for World Language Proficiency/Seal of Biliteracy Testing NOW OPEN

In order to continue to recognize the incredible talents of our bilingual and biliterate students, LWSD offers in-person world language testing for any current 9th-12th grade LWSD students. Students can satisfy the world languages graduation requirement through testing, earning up to 4 high school credits and the WA State Seal of Biliteracy on their transcript and diploma. We offer tests in any language that is both written and spoken. Testing is held on the designated dates and locations below. All 9th-12th grade students can take one language test free of cost and can test at any location and we offer testing for any language that is both written and spoken. Testing will be conducted in-person following state and district safety protocols. Register here for a specific test date. Questions? Contact the LWSD World Language Specialist and Test Administrator, Theresa Vásquez at tvasquez@lwsd.org.

• Wednesday, October 27 at Eastlake High School; 1:30 p.m. test start time (Registration closes Oct. 13)
• Wednesday, December 1 at Lake Washington High School; 1:30 p.m. test start time (Registration closes Nov. 17)
• Wednesday, February 9 at Redmond High School; 1:30 p.m. test start time (Registration closes Jan. 26)
• Wednesday, April 27 at Juanita High School; 1:30 p.m. test start time (Registration closes Apr. 13)

Register and find more information.
 

Reminder: Free meals for the 2021-22 school year 

Lake Washington School District will continue to provide meals free of charge at all school sites for the 2021-22 school year due to a USDA-issued waiver. This nationwide waiver allows for free meals for the 2021-22 school year only.  

Menu available here. 

Apply for free or reduced-price meals for additional benefits 
Families that previously qualified for free or reduced-price meal benefits will need to reapply to continue receiving district supported fee reductions and benefits. Depending on your family income and size, your student may qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Families that are eligible for free and reduced meals may also qualify to have fees for ASB cards, sports participation and other extracurricular activities waived by providing your consent to share eligibility information on the application. If you have already completed an application or are directly certified, you can also provide your consent to share eligibility information in Family Access by following these instructions | instrucciones. 

To apply for free or reduced-price meals:

Preferred method – Complete an online application

Or:

1. Please print the application and information | aplicación y información*
2. Fill it out completely submit application one of these ways:
   • Scan and mail it to F-RMealapp@lwsd.org, or
   • Return it to your child’s school office, or
   • Drop it off at the Resource Center, 16250 NE 74th St., Redmond, WA, or
   • Mail it to: Business Services, PO Box 97039, Redmond, WA 98052

*For applications in other languages, please go to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service website.

Note: Children of parents who qualify for Basic Food, formerly known as food stamps, are automatically enrolled in the free lunch program. For more information, go to www.foodhelp.wa.gov.

Questions?
Call the Nutrition Services office at 425-936-1393 or email NutritionServ@lwsd.org.

 

Reminder: View the 2021-22 school year calendar  

The 2021-22 LWSD school calendar is available on the district website. Here is a direct link to the PDF of the calendar from the site (Spanish).   

 

Reminder: Student health plans and immunization records

Lake Washington School District is committed to the health and wellness of our students. Each school has a registered nurse available to provide a range of services. At the beginning of each school year, nurses collect student health information to plan for needs during the school day. As we plan for the 2021-22 school year, we want to remind everyone of a couple important health-related items.

1. Immunizations: The State Board of Health (SBOH) has approved changes to Chapter 246-105 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) concerning school and child care immunization policy. These rules apply to all public and private schools and licensed child care centers in Washington State. The update to Chapter 246-105 WAC has three major focuses:

• It now requires medically verified immunization records for school and child care entry.
• It clarifies conditional status in regards to school and child care immunization requirements and implementation.
• It changes the Tdap immunization requirement to seventh through 12th grades.
• It states that immunization information must be provided to schools prior to the student attending classes, and the conditional status no longer applies.

Medically Verified Records
The revised rule requires medically verified immunization records for school and child care entry. Medically verified records include one or more of the following:

• A Certificate of Immunization Status (CIS) printed from the Immunization Information System (IIS)
• A physical copy of the CIS form with a healthcare provider signature
• A physical copy of the CIS with accompanying medical immunization records from a healthcare provider verified and signed by school staff
• A CIS printed from MyIR
• Download a copy of the CIS

LWSD is transitioning to School Module in Washington Immunization Information System (WAIIS) which requires parent consent for nurses to upload immunization records. Please sign the WAIIS consent form in Skyward Family Access to allow the building nurse to manage your child’s immunization records.

Learn more: https://www.lwsd.org/programs-and-services/health-services/immunizations

Questions about immunizations? Please contact your school nurse or Dr. Keandra Thompson, Health Services Manager.

 

Reminder: District tip line 

Safety is one of our district’s top priorities and to help safeguard our school community, we’ve taken an important step that we want to share with you. Our district is now using Vector Alert, a tip reporting service that allows students, staff and parents to submit safety concerns to our administration five different ways: 

1. App: Search for “Vector Alert” in the App Store to download for free   
2. Phone: 425.529.5763   
3. Text: Text your tip to 425.529.5763   
4. Email: 1342@alert1.us   
5. Web: http://1342.alert1.us

If an administrator is not nearby or available to take your tip, you and your child can easily report tips on bullying, harassment, drugs, vandalism, threats of violence or any safety issue you're concerned about through Vector Alert. When you submit a tip, be sure to use our district’s identification code: 1342 in your communication. 

Every tip Vector Alert receives about our district is immediately logged in the system and our administration is notified so that they can investigate and take appropriate action. And, tips may also be submitted anonymously if you prefer. 

Together, using Vector Alert, we can make our district a safer place to work and learn! Thanks in advance for your support. 

 

Reminder: Teen Startup event application deadline  

The LWSD Teen Startup Challenge is designed to promote student startup ideas and venture creation. The challenge provides the opportunity for high school students to win prizes and learn from local business leaders. Finalists will present their ideas and business plans and receive invaluable feedback from successful professionals. The application for this event is midnight on September 27, 2021. Visit www.lwsd.org/teen-startup to learn more about this event.

 

Building on Success is Lake Washington School District's long-term plan to reduce overcrowding, accommodate growing enrollment, and continue to provide quality learning environments and experiences for our students.

First day of school video

The first day of school has come and gone. Our videographer created a video showing families and staff at Clara Barton Elementary School showing up and preparing for the 2021-22 school year. 

 

Sister, sister – Two LWSD sisters earn silver medals at national mountain bike event

What’s better than one Artz sister winning a silver medal? Two Artz sisters winning silver medals. Lily Artz, Finn Hill Middle School seventh grader, and Emma Artz, Juanita High School senior, each took home second place at the recent USA Cycling National Championships in Winter Park, Colo. The championships featured a brand new High School Cycling Festival that allows younger riders to get a head start on future competitions. Read more about these sisters on the district website.

 

We're hiring!

LWSD is always seeking great talent for positions throughout our district. Check out the LWSD website for job descriptions and postings.