To: Michael Green
From: Jake Hall
Date: 10.5.23
Re: October 2023 Board Report
Family and Community Resource Center
On August 12, 2023, we had our annual Back To School Bash, an event sponsored through partnerships within our community. We gave away over 400 backpacks loaded with school supplies! We also served lunch to all the families, and invited relevant community partners to share their resources with them. Red Canoe did a “Fill the Canoe” drive, awarding us with even MORE school supplies, and a check to match the donations at over $7,000! We were also given a sponsorship by Fibre Federal for $1,000 and IQ Credit Union for $1,500.
We are currently working on needs assessments and eligibility for our returning and new students who are experiencing homelessness. We are starting the school year with approximately 90 students experiencing homelessness with roughly 30% of those students are considered Unaccompanied Youth.
The resource center has expanded its resources with over 400 lbs of clothes donated by the students and staff at Columbia Elementary! In addition, we have installed a brand new washer/dryer to help students and families in need.
Highly Capable Program
Highly Capable services are underway! Our first and second grade students are putting their engineering skills to test by discovering the importance of a sturdy frame and solid foundation. Our 3rd and 4th grade students have walked straight into a chemistry lab and are revealing the types of reactions that are made when mixing different solutions.
This year we have 5th grade students designing rockets using two-liter bottles. Their rockets are supposed to mimic a NASA rocket delivering a payload to space. Their payloads are ping pong parachutes that they built and engineered to be released at the apex of the rocket's flight. The LEGO Team is busy designing a robot that can accomplish tasks on the robot challenge board.
Student Engagement Coordinator
Lindsay Noble has been collaborating with Student Engagement Coordinators in other districts in the region. Also, Lindsay is registered to attend the state “BECCA” Conference on October 12 and 13, 2023. This annual conference focuses on updates to student attendance guidelines as well as best practices for improving student engagement. Regular student attendance is always a challenge, and we appreciate Lindsay’s efforts to keep Woodland calibrated with communication and engagement strategies.
K-12 Nurse Services
Kerri Six, our district nurse, and Sheri Music are keeping current with all of our students who have medical plans and medication at school. The two of them are serving all of our schools and doing a great job maximizing their time with students, families, and staff.
LAP Program
Students qualifying for LAP services are beginning interventions. Student progress is monitored regularly and adjustments will be made to their program accordingly.
Lewis River Academy
We are off to a great start to the year at LRA. Our teachers have been conducting full days working one-on-one with students and families. We continue to receive new referrals for LRA and have grown in our enrollment, especially grades 6 through 8. To meet the demand in enrollment, we needed to add a part time teaching position to round out our staffing to 2.0 FTE. Andrea Edwards is full time (1.0 FTE) for kindergarten through 5th grade, Annika Dukes is .6 FTE and we were able to add Kim Heidgerken, a former LRA teacher, to part time at .4 FTE.
Title Programs
Angela Campbell has filled in for Tara Eilts as the lead Title Coordinator at Woodland Middle School. Angela has been working with teachers on identifying students and their individual supports at WMS. Her organizational skills are shining brightly in this role and we are grateful for her work to set up staff to know their students and modify instruction according to their needs.
Multilingual Learner Program
We are moving forward in identifying, assessing, and serving all of our students who are Multilingual Learners. We currently have 198 active Multilingual Learners in October 2023, and 16 students who have exited ML services by meeting are exceeding standard on the standard ML assessment.
Special Services
Our current special education count is 376 students. This is the highest number of students with disabilities we have had in October. For example, pre-pandemic in October 2019, I reported that we had 356 students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Our special education staff continue to assess students and work diligently to create IEPs together with families.