General information

Child Find is a program for the purpose of locating, evaluating and identifying student’s ages birth to 22 years with a suspected disability. Child Find seeks to identify students who reside within the boundaries of Lake Washington School District, or those who attend a private school within the boundaries of Lake Washington School District, and are not receiving special education services. Child Find services are conducted throughout the year in Lake Washington School District through the guidance team process.

If you have a child in kindergarten to 12th grade/age 22 and are concerned about his/her communication skills, motor skills, cognitive skills, social-emotional or behavioral skills, or academic skills, please contact your neighborhood school and ask for the school psychologist or school principal. You may also contact the Special Services main office at 425-936-1201. For children ages birth through preschool age, please contact Old Redmond Schoolhouse at 425-936-2840 and request Child Find information.

All district policies are available on the Lake Washington School District website. The "Instruction (2000)" section includes policies regarding basic programs, special programs, activities, instructional resources and academic achievement.

The "Students (3000)" section addresses policies on admissions, attendance, rights and responsibilities, conduct, discipline, and health and welfare services.

The "Community Relations (4000)" section includes policies that deal with the public and community organizations.

Severe weather and other emergencies

When emergency conditions make getting to or from school difficult or staying there a problem, Lake Washington School District will use one of the plans outlined below. By 5:30 a.m., you will be able to learn which plan is in place by doing one or more of the following:

• Go to www.lwsd.org and look for a pop-up window with the announcement.
• Go to www.flashalert.net, which lists schools all over the Puget Sound area. You can sign up to get text alerts from this service as well.
• Call the emergency line at 425-936-1206 to listen to a message, or
• Tune in to area radio and television.

In addition, LWSD will use an automated calling system to let parents know if school will be delayed or cancelled. You will not receive a call if school will open normally. If you want to double-check the status or learn it early, use one of the options listed above.

Be sure to keep this information handy to help you understand the brief notifications you will hear over radio and television. Plans will be updated if conditions change. No announcement or no report means schools will operate on a normal schedule.

Schools closed

If schools are closed, the following programs and activities are cancelled: regular school, Extended Day program, all activities including athletic events and music programs, parent meetings and building use. (If conditions change during the day, special arrangements may be made for some activities.)

Late start and limited bus service

Under this plan, all schools will start two hours late and bus routes will be limited. The district’s transportation department will send out more information in the fall about when and where your student will be picked up and dropped off when limited bus service is in effect. Students will be dismissed at regular times unless otherwise announced. Extended Day program will also be on a two hour delay. The following programs are cancelled: All preschool morning and afternoon sessions and out-of-district transportation.

Special announcements

A variation of the above plans will be announced if necessary due to a power failure or other conditions.

Keeping students and staff safe is a top priority. A Layered School Safety approach is how the district provides a comprehensive safety plan for every school. This approach recognizes that no single barrier or intervention is sufficient by itself to maintain a safe campus. Rather, using multiple layers acts like a filter to be able to identify, resolve and mitigate threats and hazards. These efforts involve staff, students, parents, local fire departments and law enforcement.

In the event of an emergency at school, the district will provide communication regarding the type of emergency as quickly as possible. If it is required that parents pick up students (reunification), clear directions will be given on where and how to do this through district communication methods. Please do not come to school during the emergency.

For more information, visit: www.lwsd.org/services/school-safety.

Services Department welcomes all students and parents to participate in the district’s school meal program. Healthy breakfasts and lunches are served every school day (breakfast not available at all school locations). Students can choose from a variety of entrees, fruits, vegetables and beverages. Pricing for school meals are as follows:

LWSD’s Nutrition Services Department takes pride in providing nutritious meals to students to support learning each school day. It is the responsibility of parents or guardians to prepay for school meals, provide a meal from home, or complete an annual application establishing eligibility for free or reduced meal benefits. Under no circumstance do we want a child to go without a meal during the school day. Students will be allowed to debit their school meal account for the purchase of a complete breakfast or lunch when their account shows insufficient funds or when the student does not have sufficient funds in the form of cash or a check. The purchase of ala carte items including 2nd entrees, milk or juice and snacks are strictly prohibited when an account is negative or will become negative due to the charge.

Adults are not allowed to charge a meal or purchase any ala carte items if they have a negative balance on their account or will become negative due to the charge.

Nutrition Services will make every effort to communicate with families the status of their student’s negative meal account balances through the following efforts:

Accounts with negative balances:

• Families will receive an automated email message and notification in ParentSquare once per week (Fridays) regarding their child’s meal account balance. Notifications will continue until the account balance is paid off.
• If the child’s account balance continues to remain negative after these attempts, Nutrition Services will contact the school designee who will connect with the families to problem solve ways to resolve the negative balance issue.
• Unresolved negative balances at the end of the year will be submitted to the accounting office for collection.

We strongly encourage families to complete the School Meal Benefit application annually through www2.myschoolapps.com to determine if they qualify for free or reduced meal benefits. Families are encouraged to enroll in the online prepayment service myschoolbucks.com for meal account payments and account tracking. There is a convenience fee for this payment service, however, there is no fee associated with account balance inquires through mySchoolBucks.com.

Health and Wellness

Through input from students, parents, and staff, Lake Washington School District has established a Nutrition, Health, and Physical Fitness (Wellness) Policy that includes goals for nutrition education, physical activity, and other school based activities. Also included are nutrition guidelines for all foods sold and available on campus during the school day with the objective of promoting student health and wellness. We review the policy regularly and welcome feedback from all stakeholders. Questions, comments, or input regarding the LWSD’s Wellness Policy can be emailed to: NutritionServ@lwsd.org.

Additional information about the district’s nutrition services program, including: menus/nutrition, meal prices/payment, free & reduced meals, special diets, meal charge procedure, and student wellness can be found on the district website at https://www.lwsd.org/students-families/families/school-meals-nutrition.

Families should contact Nutrition Services for the following:

• If you do not want your child to purchase a la carte foods, an alert can be placed on your student’s account.
• If you need assistance with payment options to address school meal charges.
• Questions regarding negative school meal balances.
• Comments or input regarding the LWSD Wellness Policy

Nutrition Services
NutritionServ@lwsd.org
Phone: 425-936-1393
Office Hours: Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Parents are encouraged to volunteer in their child’s school as one way to be more involved. For safety reasons, only volunteers who have been screened by the district are allowed to volunteer in our schools and chaperone students on field trips. Every parent who wants to help in their child’s classroom or go on a field trip will need to complete an LWSD volunteer application and be approved by the district’s volunteer office before the event occurs or before they begin volunteering in the school. Volunteers must sign in and out at the school office, following the school’s standard procedure.

If you are applying for the first time, we recommend that you complete your application during the summer or at the beginning of the school year to ensure that your application has been approved before you plan to volunteer. Volunteer approvals are valid for two years from the date of approval. If you are due to renew your volunteer application, the renewal window opens 30 days prior to the expiration of your current application. You should receive an email reminding you of the need to renew with instructions on how to do so. Check with your school office to see if your approval status is current.

How to apply

To submit a volunteer application, visit the volunteer section of the LWSD website at: www.lwsd.org/volunteer. Click on the button that says: Online Volunteer Application and follow all of the steps to submit the application. If you have any questions, please contact the volunteer office at 425-936-1270 or volunteers@lwsd.org.

The district provides information that is considered a public record, upon request. The Washington State Public Records Act provides for the release of public records maintained by a public agency, such as the school district, with limited exceptions.

The district encourages requests for access to, or copies of, public records, by submitting a request online. Alternatively, requests for public records can be made by in writing to: Public Records Office, P.O. Box 97039, Redmond, WA 98073-9739; or by email: publicrecordsrequest@lwsd.org.

Please use this form to specify the records sought. Copies of records are subject to a fee. For more information contact 425-936-1147.

Studies show that family involvement in their child’s education is a critical factor for success. A home environment that encourages learning is more important for student achievement than income, education level or cultural background. Children whose parents are involved in their education go farther in school. And the earlier you get involved in your child’s education, the more effect it has on their success.

Involvement can be as simple as talking about school. Children who talk regularly about school with their parents perform better academically. Other important activities are to actively organize and monitor your student’s time and help them with homework. Reading is particularly affected by home activities. The most important activity families can do for their child’s reading success is to read aloud to them.

One great way to get involved with your child’s education is to volunteer at their school. Volunteer directly with the school or get involved with the PTSA. Contact your school’s office or the district’s volunteer office at 425-936-1270 for more information.

Lake Washington PTSA Council

Website: www.lwptsa.net
Phone: 425-936-1216

Need affordable home internet service? Access to the Internet is critical to students for learning at home and to connect families with schools. Please consider the following options:

• Everyone On (everyoneon.org) – list of national low cost or free internet access resources.
• Internet Essentials – connect low-income families to home Internet.
  Visit internetessentials.com or call 855-846-8376.
• Comcast Xfinity – Wi-Fi hotspots across King County will be available to anyone who needs them for free.
• Lake Washington School District – offers free cellular hotspots to families that do not have home Internet service. Check with student’s school office.
• 1 Green Planet (1greenplanet.com) – donating personal computers for district students in need for online learning at home. Call 425-428-4414 for availability.