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Dear Kang Families,
Let me start by expressing my gratitude to our PTSA. As parents, you have been an incredible support to our Kang family. Your financial contributions have helped fund projects and provide supplemental curriculum and supplies for our classrooms and clubs. More importantly, your willingness to connect with our staff in a positive and supportive manner has a significant impact on our ability to serve students.
Last Tuesday, we held Parent and Community Learning Walks. Along with our parents, our Athletic Director and administrators visited fifteen classrooms! Please consider joining our next Learning Walks, scheduled for April 25th. We will send a form to parents as we get closer to that date.
In the fall, we learned that we would be transitioning to a six-period day starting in the 2025-26 school year. This month, we had the opportunity to review the schedule changes approved at the district level. We now know that high school students will start five minutes later, at 8:35am, and end their day earlier, at 3:15pm. The instructional minutes removed from high schools will be redistributed to elementary and middle schools. The new schedule also allows for four classes to meet per day, increasing the frequency of student-teacher interactions. While the schedule is new and unfamiliar, we know that with patience and preparation, we can make it work effectively for our learning community.
I have heard feedback from students and teachers. Many are concerned about the new schedule and are unsure whether it will achieve its intended goal—reducing stress while allowing for effective intervention. The biggest source of uncertainty seems to be the 48-minute periods. Understanding the expectations for both long and short periods is essential. The new schedule was designed to increase teacher-student contact time, allowing teachers to provide academic support, enrichment, and intervention within the scope of their classes. This can happen during the shortened period, which was the original intent of the design committee, or at another time in the week, depending on the pacing of lessons and the teacher's discretion.
In other words, teachers will have the flexibility to incorporate additional support in ways that best fit their classes—whether embedding it within a block period or using the 48-minute session for targeted interventions. Additionally, time before school will remain available for students to connect with their teachers.
The order of the schedule will not change. District leaders have received a great deal of feedback, and an FAQ document will be shared with the community. While the initial schedule release contained a few minor errors, those have now been corrected.
There are still some details to be worked out, including how we will handle special schedules and how we will use homeroom time. These decisions will be made at the building level with input from our student and staff leadership teams.
I remain open to feedback, and I’m excited to introduce a new opportunity for students to engage in productive conversations with me. On Thursday, March 6th, I will be in the College and Career Center for the first session of Donuts with Dr. Bell. This PTSA-sponsored event will serve as an ongoing check-in, allowing me to hear directly from students about what they want to see highlighted, celebrated, and considered. Donuts with Dr. Bell is a drop-in event for all students—no RSVP required!
This is my fourth spring as a member of the LW community, and I couldn't be prouder of our students and staff. It’s a great time to be a Kang!
Christine Bell, Ed.D
Principal, Lake Washington High School
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