Archive for February, 2011
Baker View Christian School is having an open house for prospective kindergarten and pre-K families on Tuesday evening, March 1.
Parents are invited to learn about the programs and speak with school staff. Childcare and refreshments will be provided.
Pre-K and kindergarten students also get a chance to see what it’s like to be in school. On Wednesday, March 9, students can attend school from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and see what the first few hours of the school day is like. During that time, parents will have a chance to meet with teachers and staff.
The private Christian school has students in grades pre-K through 8, plus before- and after-school care for kids ages 2 ½ through 12.
The open house will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the school, 5353 Waschke Road. For more information, call 360-384-8155 or email office@bakerviewchristianschool.com.
Administrator shifts in the Ferndale School District have resulted in a new planning principal for Windward High School and a new interim principal at Ferndale High School starting this summer.
Tim Keigley, the dean of students at Ferndale High, has been named the planning principal for Windward High School, and Aaron Kombol, director of special projects for the district, will be the interim principal at Ferndale High School starting July 1.
The moves come as district officials are trying to create a clear vision for Windward High School and how it relates to the larger Ferndale High School.
The district is attempting to reinvent Windward, which is smaller than the traditional high school and has had a focus on community service in the past. The school was moved to the Ferndale High campus in the fall due to budget cuts, a move that concerned staff, students and parents due to it losing its identity.
Keigley, who was selected through a process that included parents, students, staff and community members, will lead the visioning and enrollment work during the rest of the school year. Keigley has had several positions in the district, including interim principal of Clearview High School, dean of students at Windward High, and assistant principal and early college coordinator at Ferndale High.
Current Ferndale High principal, Dawn Mark, has announced to district officials that after six years leading the school, she is looking for a new job south of the district to be closer to her children and her new granddaughter. Kombol, who was the assistant principal at Ferndale High from 1999-2007, will serve as the interim principal during the 2011-12 school year. He will work alongside current assistant principal Julia Besola, who will take on additional roles and have the new title associate principal.
The district will start the process to select the permanent Ferndale High principal no later than February 2012. The decision will include input and involvement from staff, students, parents and community members.
Sources: Washington Votes (bill synopses) and state legislature website.
To see this week’s Legislative agenda, click here.
House Bill 1756 (Authorizing a nonexpiring license for early learning providers) Substitute offered in the House on February 17, 2011. The substitute requires the DEL to establish timeframes for monitoring visits to nonexpiring licensees. The substitute bill defines an agency in good standing as one that does not have: valid complaints; history of noncompliance related to those valid complaints or pending from prior monitoring visits; or, other information that when evaluated would result in a finding of noncompliance. The substitute bill also requires the DEL to consider whether an agency is in good standing when determining the most appropriate approach and process for monitoring visits, and clarifies that the license renewal process does not apply to nonexpiring licenses. Passed out of committee to the Rules committee; put on the second-reading list on Feb. 26.
House Bill 1163 (Concerning harassment, intimidation, and bullying prevention)
Substitute offered in the House on February 18, 2011; it requires the Office of the Superintendent of the Public Instruction and the Office of the Education Ombudsman to establish an ongoing workgroup regarding prevention of bullying, intimidation, and harassment in public schools. The substitute bill specifies issues for the workgroup to examine and requires a biennial report. The substitute bill directs the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and the Higher Education Coordinating Board to compile and analyze bullying and harassment prevention policies at colleges and universities and submit a report by December 1, 2011. The substitute also includes mental health and suicide prevention education in classroom-based assessments of health and fitness learning standards. Majority off committee supported bill with substitute; minority said do not pass, on Feb. 18. Passed to Rules Committee on Feb. 23. Placed on second reading list Feb. 26.
House Bill 1329 (Creating “Music Matters” special license plates) Passed 89 to 5 in the House on February 22, 2011, to create the “Music Matters” special license plate, and the “Music Matters” Awareness Account in the State Treasury. Received in the Senate on Feb. 23; referred to Transportation Committee.
This weekend, I ran a story about full-time kindergarten and what options Whatcom County families have for kindergarten in the fall.
Below is the full list of options. You can also view it, and the story about full-time kindergarten, by clicking here.
Western Washington University has been doing work on the old armory building near campus. Herald columnist Dean Kahn had a column in the paper on Sunday about the future of the building.
To read the column, click here.
Local higher education and business groups will gather on Tuesday, March 1 to discuss higher education funding and what could happen if the state continues to reduce it.
The public is invited to both a rally during the day at Western Washington University and a forum that evening at Bellingham City Hall.
The news release from WWU is below the jump.
A rally and a forum on March 1 will focus on the higher education funding crisis in Washington State, an issue of particular importance to Bellingham, home to a university and several colleges.
The “Rally to Restore Education” will be held from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1on the Performing Arts Center Plaza at Western Washington University.
Later that day, the “Community Conversation on Higher Education” forum will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Bellingham City Hall Council Chambers, 210 Lottie St.
The public is invited to both events.
The forum will include a panel discussion, which will be moderated by Ken Oplinger, president of the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Panelists will include former Bellingham mayor Tim Douglas, a member of the Whatcom Community College Board of Trustees; Robin Halliday, president and chairman of the Technology Alliance Group for Northwest Washington Board of Directors; Catherine Riordan, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Western; and Byron Starkey, vice president for Government Affairs for the Associated Students of WWU.
The forum will be filmed by the City of Bellingham and air on BTV10 and the City website. Check the BTV10 schedule after the event for exact dates/times: http://www.cob.org/services/education/btv10/index.aspx
“Funding for higher education in this state is at the tipping point – continued deep cuts could have serious economic and other consequences for our community that includes a university and several colleges,” said Steve Swan, vice president for University Relations at Western.
The panel will discuss the implications of the deep cuts in state funding to higher education. Between 2008 and 2010, the state cut operational funding for public baccalaureates by 30 percent and community colleges by a similar amount. If the currently proposed budget or an equivalent is approved, that cut will grow to 50 percent, cutting state support for public baccalaureate education in half in less than four years.
The forum and panel discussion is sponsored by Western Washington University, Whatcom Community College, Bellingham Technical College, the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the College Promise Coalition, a partnership of students, parents, alumni and leaders in business advocating for state universities and colleges in this state.
The Associated Students (AS) Board of Directors and Western Votes!, an Associated Students organization associated with the Resource and Outreach Programs Representation and Engagement Programs, are hosting the “Rally to Restore Education.”
AS President Colin Watrin and other Western students will speak and share their experiences. Students will have the opportunity to call and write to their legislators to share their personal stories and advocate for higher learning.
Whatcom Community College and Bellingham Technical College students also have initiated campus campaigns to garner support for funding of higher education with plans to distribute these letters to local legislators and members of the House and Senate Higher Education Committees.
WCC and BTC students plan to show their support of Western students’ Rally to Restore Education by attending the rally.
In case of inclement weather, the rally will be moved inside to the Viking Union Mulitpurpose Room.
“The rally will attempt to ensure that the issues students are facing are conveyed to legislators in Olympia through constructive and effective means,” said AS Vice President for Governmental Affairs Byron Starkey.
For more information about the rally, or for disAbility accommodations, contact Christina Roy by e-mail at WWUvotes@gmail.com
All Whatcom County schools are open today, Feb. 24, but many are delayed. Below is a list of start times.
Assumption Catholic School – delayed 2 hours, no preschool
Baker View Christian – delayed 2 hours
Bellingham Christian – delayed until 10 a.m.
Bellingham School District – delayed 90 minutes; all buses on snow routes.
Bridgeway Christian Academy – delayed 2 hours; evening events rescheduled
Lummi Nation Schools – delayed 2 hours
Lynden Christian Schools – Bellingham campus is delayed 90 minutes, Lynden campus is on time.
Montessori at Samish Woods – delayed 1 hour
Mount Baker School District – delayed 1 hour; snow routes
Whatcom Day Academy – delayed until 10 a.m.
Sources: Washington Votes (bill synopses) and state Legislature website (bill movement)
Senate Bill 5005 (Certification of exemption from immunization) Amendment offered by Sen. Jim Hargrove, (D-Hoquiam) on February 22, 2011, to clarify that the disclosure statement addresses the benefits and risks of the immunization to the child. The amendment passed by voice vote in the Senate- 35 to 11 – on Feb. 22. The bill was passed to the House on Feb. 23 and then referred to Health Care & Wellness.
House Bill 1132 (Modifying compensation for educational and academic employees) Substitute offered in the House on February 21, 2011, includes a requirement to make-up amounts equal to the I-732 COLA allocations suspended during the 2009-11 and 2011-13 fiscal biennia in four equal increments during the 2013-15 and 2015-17 biennia. The substitute bill also makes the NBPTS bonus provided to teachers in high poverty schools subject to funding in the budget. Majority of committee voted to pass the bill, with substitute, on Feb. 21; minority said do not pass.
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