From the Superintendent

Hello Team Northshore,  

What an amazing week we have had!! As September winds to an end, it is hard to believe that October is right around the corner. My late maman used to say the days are long but the years are short; as the years roll on, I find this to be more and more true. I continue to be so proud of the work we are doing in this amazing district. Having attended several Open House events over the last few weeks and hearing from a variety of parents about these events, I can confidently say that our district traditions and your work are exemplary. I so appreciate the extra time and effort each of you is taking with our students and one another; it matters. Read more.

Warmest Regards,

Michelle Reid, Ed.D.

Superintendent 

Other topics in this week's Thursday Thoughts include:

In the Northshore School District you can earn high school credit in a World Language by successfully passing a World Language Competency Test and demonstrating your proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and listening. You may also earn a Seal of Biliteracy on your high school diploma for demonstrating a high level of proficiency.

Please be sure to review the World Language Competency Test webpage here to determine your student’s eligibility, languages offered, credit information and more.

Register for Fall Testing

Registration for fall testing is open and will close on Oct. 12, 2018, at 4:00 p.m., or when we reach maximum capacity of 130 registrations for the first session. We are gauging interest for this test and will add additional test dates as needed.

Test Date: Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018

Location: Inglemoor High School

Time: Students check-in at 8:30 a.m. Testing begins at 9:00 a.m. The test is not timed, the majority of students complete the test in three to four hours.

Who May Test: Students in grades 9 – 12 (spring testing will be open to grades 7 and 8)

ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM 

Please Note: Upon receiving your registration form, the District will schedule testing with the appropriate test vendor, at the District's expense. If you are unable to make your testing appointment, you must contact the testing coordinator at [email protected] at least 48 hours prior to your appointment or you will be charged the cost of the test.

You have the right to prevent the District from releasing your child’s directory information. This is optional, and we want to emphasize that if you choose to complete the form and check the first box, indicating you want your child’s information withheld from everyone, it will mean – for example – that your child’s photo cannot be published in the yearbook and your child cannot be listed in the school directory. Please read the description of each choice carefully before checking the desired box.

Parents wishing to withhold their child’s directory information need to complete the Permission to Withhold Student Directory Information form and submit it to their child’s school office on or before Oct. 1. Forms will be accepted after the deadline, but the District cannot be responsible for the release of Directory Information if the Permission to Withhold Student Directory Information form is received after the Oct. 1 deadline. Please contact your student’s school or call the Communications Office, 425.408.7670, for more information.

Click here to download the Permission to Withhold Student Directory Information form

Twice a year the Transportation Department completes its emergency evacuation drills with students during the morning drop off at school. The first scheduled drills will begin Oct. 3.

During this time, buses may be running behind schedule at schools served by the same buses as those earlier schools that completed their drill. We appreciate your patience.

The construction crews at the Skyview/Canyon Creek expansion project have been busy all summer long preparing the grounds for the new building, which will add 30 new classrooms. Part of the work included grading the site for the building pad, which involved moving lots of dirt and relocation of the parking lot areas. The crews also started pouring concrete the first week of September and will continue to pour more for the foundation over the next few weeks. We will have a live stream camera at the site soon, so you can track the progress.

In the meantime, we've captured drone video of some of the work. 

Watch the video here.

For Mike Bailey, Northshore School District’s new internal auditor, the District’s Strategic Plan aligns well with one of the programs he helped develop as a 30-year member of the Government Finance Officers Association: ensure that the District’s budgets illustrate that resources are being used to accomplish the District’s instructional goals. 

Bailey, who is a certified public accountant, joined the District in mid-August as a consultant to bring more transparency to the District’s finances.

Read the entire story about Mike Bailey here.

The District welcomes Srinivas Khedam to his new role assisting family support under the leadership of the Equity and Diversity Department lead by Dr. Chris Bigelow. Khedam will support students and families of Indian subcontinent and promote family engagement in various aspects of the District’s work in alignment with the 2017-22 Strategic Plan. Additionally, Khedam will continue in his role as assistant principal at Lockwood Elementary.

The Northshore School District Board announced that Inglemoor High School’s new performance and instruction building will be a concert hall that will accommodate approximately 750 seats and add classroom and instruction space to the school. Northshore voters approved building the performance hall during the February 2018 bond and levy election.

The concert hall, which will be located on the north side of the existing school campus, has a budget of $26 million and is scheduled to open in fall 2021.

Click here for more information about the concert hall.

Northshore families and community members are invited to join Dr. Michelle Reid for an open chat on the following dates: 

9 a.m., Hindu Temple & Cultural

Center, Bothell

Please come with questions, comments, concerns or discussion topics.  

The first Conversation with the Board takes place on Monday, Oct. 15 in the Inglemoor High School library.

This evening forum is open to everyone and designed to allow for two-way conversation in an informal setting.

Attendees are invited to share their ideas about opportunities for Northshore and priorities for the District over the next 3-5 years.

Parents interested in finding out about the PACE program are invited to attend information night on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m., at any of the three PACE sites: Lockwood, Wellington or Woodmoor Elementary School.

PACE is a choice enrichment program for 1-5 grade students open to all students and hosted at Lockwood, Woodmoor, and Wellington elementary schools

Please visit the PACE webpage for more information.

This is an informational message to prevent alarm for you and your students.

 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies are conducting a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts on Oct. 3, 2018 at about 11:18 a.m. Pacific time. This test is designed to assess the agencies' readiness to alert the public in the event of an emergency.

 

Please be advised that during the test, all compatible cell phones that are powered on will vibrate and produce a unique tone. We recommend you remind your students of this test as the sudden alert may cause concern for those who are unaware of the test.

For more information about the test, please visit FEMA’s website.

The District and our schools use a communication platform called Blackboard to send messages to our families. Families whose preferred language at home is listed in the student records database as a language other than English may receive Blackboard communications in that designated language. Most communication platforms use auto-translated services that are often incorrect. We apologize for any errors shared as we research a better translation system.

If you prefer to receive your communications in English, please contact your student's school office and ask them to update the primary language to English found on the Parent screen in the student records database.

School Board meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of most months.

Please note, School Board adjusted date for November:

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

For information on School Board meetings including minutes, agendas videos and live streaming, visit the

School Board webpage .