Nooksack Valley
Nooksack Valley School District coverage
Three Whatcom County schools – Wade King Elementary, Blaine Middle and Nooksack Valley High schools – are School of Distinction Award winners this year.
The award recognizes schools that have made large improvements in student achievement. Across the state, 99 schools received the honor this year, the fifth time the awards have been given out.
Awardees are chosen based on looking at data from the state standardized tests over the last five years. The schools with the largest gains in all subjects are honored.
The awards are given by the Center for Educational Effectiveness, the Association of Educational Service Districts, the Association of Washington School Principals, Phi Delta Kappa-Washington Chapter, Washington Association of School Administrators, Washington State ASCD and Washington State School Directors’ Association.
State Superintendent Randy Dorn just finished discussing the state results from the spring Measurements of Student Progress and High School Proficiency Exams, and one thing is clear: math scores are up for almost every grade.
But despite more students passing math tests, schools across the state are still struggling to meet federal benchmarks, as required by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind).
MSP/HSPE
Across the state’s 295 school districts, more students in grades 4 through 7 passed the math test this spring, with the largest gain in the fifth grade, where the percentage of students meeting standard rose by 7.6 percent. Part of the reason behind the large increase may be due to the fact that students in grade 5 struggled with the test the previous year.
This is the second year students in grades 3-8 were tested on the newly updated state math standards.
For high school students, this was the first year they were tested in math at the end of the school year, after finishing their math class. About 66 percent of students (grades 6-12) passed the algebra 1 test and about 74 percent passed the geometry test (grades 6-12). Students are required to pass one of the tests to graduate; students in the class of 2015 will be required to pass both.
Reading scores were mixed, with the percentage of 6th grade students passing the test increasing by 6 percentage points, and the percentage of 7th graders passing dropping by 7 percentage points.
Writing scores were about the same statewide as compared to last year, but science scores increased dramatically, especially in 5th grade, where the percentage of students passing increased by 21 percentage points.
However, students in grades 5 and 8 were tested on new science standards this time around, making comparisons difficult since the test changed.
I will be spending the rest of the week digging deeper into the numbers for Whatcom County schools, but if you want to look at your school know, click here.
AYP
According to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, schools and districts must make “Adequate Yearly Progress” and show they are working to make sure all students are at standard by 2014. AYP tracks a school and district’s progress in reaching that goal. Across the state 1,388 schools didn’t make AYP – that represents about 64 percent of the state’s schools.
In Washington, AYP is determined by looking at a combination of High School Proficiency Exam and Measurements of Student Progress scores, graduation rates and attendance records. In all, schools and districts must meet standards in 37 categories.
If schools or districts fail to meet standard in the same category for two or more years in a row, they are considered “in improvement” and face possible sanctions.
According to Alan Burke with OSPI, many of the schools that did make AYP are small and therefore didn’t have enough students in some categories to count.
In Whatcom County, all seven school districts and 39 schools (including Lummi schools) failed to make AYP.
I will be spending the rest of the week digging deeper into the numbers, but here is a quick overview of things I noticed in Whatcom County school districts.
More details about AYP will be coming soon.
The OSPI press release is below.
August is coming to an end, which means it’s time for kids, teenagers and teachers to head back to the classroom.
Below is a round-up of when school districts, colleges and private elementary, middle and high schools will start the school year.
Monday, Aug. 22: Baker View Christian School
Tuesday, Aug. 30: Lynden School District, Cornerstone Christian School, Lynden Christian Schools, including Evergreen Christian School in Bellingham.
Wednesday, Aug. 31: Blaine and Nooksack Valley school districts, St. Paul’s Academy, Whatcom Day Academy, Ebenezer Christian School,
Thursday, Sept. 1: Mount Baker School District, Assumption Catholic School
Tuesday, Sept. 6: Bellingham and Meridian school districts, Montessori at Samish Woods, Pioneer Meadows Montessori School, Bellingham Christian School, Explorations Academy. Wheels of Life School
Wednesday, Sept. 7: Ferndale School District, Lummi Nation Schools, Bridgeway Christian Academy, Whatcom Hills Waldorf School, Cedar Tree Montessori School (the first day for individual students will vary depending on age)
Monday, Sept. 12: WellSpring Academy of Arts & Sciences (arts and science career pathways classes will start the first week of October.)
Monday, Sept. 19: Northwest Indian College
Tuesday, Sept. 20: Whatcom Community College, Bellingham Technical College
Wednesday, Sept. 21: Western Washington University
It’s August, which means it’s back to school time!
Whatcom County students start returning to school at the end of the month. Below is a round-up of back-to-school information for each public school district. To view the district websites, click the district name.
Please note not all information is currently available for all schools or districts. With some school offices still closed, it’s hard to find some of the information. If you have questions, call the school you need information from after their offices open.
BELLINGHAM
First day of school: Tuesday, Sept. 6
School offices: Middle and elementary school offices will reopen to the public on Monday, Aug. 22, with daily hours of 9 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. High school offices are already open, except for the Options High office, which reopens Aug. 22 with daily hours of 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.
New student registration: New student registration packets are available at the district office, 1306 Dupont St.
High school students can also pick up registration packets and register at their school, although an appointment may be necessary. Call the schools for more information.
- Bellingham, 676-6575
- Sehome, 676-6481
- Squalicum, 676-6471
- Options, 676-6871.
To view school attendance areas, click here.
Community and church groups around Whatcom County have been doing a variety of service projects this summer as part of the Season of Service.
And four school districts – Blaine, Ferndale, Nooksack Valley and Bellingham – have or will be reaping the benefits of the countywide volunteer effort.
Earlier in July, The Bellingham Herald ran a story about volunteers painting every classroom in Nooksack Valley middle and high schools. To read the story, by Zoe Fraley, click here. To view the photo gallery of the work done in Nooksack schools, click here.
But the Nooksack school project was the third such project for schools. Earlier this summer, volunteers also did work at Central Elementary School in Ferndale and Blaine Primary and Elementary schools. Volunteers are also scheduled to do work at Sunnyland Elementary in Bellingham.
During the Blaine School Board meeting on Monday, July 25, the collective group of volunteers were honored. Work done at Blaine schools included grounds cleaning, repainting doors and posts, painting the outside of the district’s “transition house” and more.
“A lot of labor intensive things got done that would have not gotten done this summer,” said Jim Kenoyer, the district’s facilities supervisor.
According to the volunteer coordinator from Cornwall Church, the groups have had to work with school districts to make sure the labor provided is cleared with the proper unions. Many of the things the volunteers have been doing are maintenance issues that may not have been done due to budget cuts, as Kenoyer eluded to in his comments to the school board.
I know this has been an ongoing series of projects this summer, and this post only highlights the school-based projects, but I wanted to make sure people knew about the goodwill going through the community.
The Nooksack Valley School Board is expected to adopt the $16 million 2011-12 budget at a meeting Thursday night, July 21.
The draft operating budget includes nearly $16.1 million in expenditures and a little more than $16 million in revenue. To make up the difference, about $70,000 will be used from district reserves, according to the draft budget.
Some of the budget “highlights” include:
Nine candidates for Whatcom County school board positions have yet to file with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission, meaning they’re violating state election laws.
By law, almost all candidates for elected positions must file with the PDC within two weeks of declaring their candidacy. School board candidates, even if they are running unopposed, fall into the category of people that must file with the PDC.
The two-week deadline was in late June. In a previous blog post, Lori Anderson at the PDC said her staff was working to contact candidates to remind them of the rules.
For the most part, school board candidates only need to register their campaigns (which means filing out the C1 form). People running for offices that garner a lot of campaign contributions must also file paperwork about expenditures and contributions. To see the breakdown of who has to do what, click here.
The following candidates have not filed with the PDC as of July 13 (according to their website):
Ferndale: Kevin Erickson and Tim Ballew
Lynden: Dominic Shiu and Gary Vis
Meridian: Craig Wasilewski and Marty Gray
Mount Baker: Trish Hart
Nooksack Valley: Chris Haugen and Mark Olson
Most people who filed for Whatcom County’s November school board elections have yet to file with the state Public Disclosure Commission, making them out of compliance with state election laws.
By law, almost all candidates for elected positions must file with the PDC within two weeks of declaring their candidacy. School board candidates, even if they are running unopposed, fall into the category of people that must file with the PDC.
This means that anyone who filed for office on or before June 8 and hasn’t registered with the PDC is technically breaking election laws. According to the Whatcom County Auditor’s website, 20 candidates filed for school board positions by June 8; of those candidates, four have registered with the PDC. An additional five candidates registered between June 9 and 10, and one of those candidates has filed with the PDC.
According to the PDC website, as of Thursday morning, June 23, the five school board candidates who have registered their campaigns are: Bellingham candidate Ken Gass (incumbent), Ferndale candidates Jeff Marks and Stuart McKay (incumbent), Lynden candidate Kevin Burke, and Meridian candidate John Bosche. (note, there may be a delay between when paperwork is filed and when it is available on the PDC site).
For the most part, school board candidates only need to register their campaigns (which means filing out the C1 form). People running for offices that garner a lot of campaign contributions must also file paperwork about expenditures and contributions. To see the breakdown of who has to do what, click here.
According to Lori Anderson at the PDC, they are already working to contact candidates who have not submitted their paperwork.
“After two weeks and a short grace period goes by, we’ll contact the candidates once again and give them a ‘drop dead’ filing date,” she wrote in an email.
Candidates who don’t file by their “drop dead” date will get a hearing notice; cases that go to a hearing could face penalties of up to $150.
This story appeared in Tuesday, June 21′s print edition of The Bellingham Herald.
The story only included retirements for public schools, but I also received a few names of teachers leaving St. Paul’s Academy – teacher Gisella Loeffler, 11 years at St. Paul’s; teacher Claud Johnson, 8 years at St. Paul’s, 45 years teaching in all; school secretary Marianne Johnson, 8 years at St. Paul’s.
The original story is below.
School is out for the summer for nearly all Whatcom County schools. And for dozens of teachers and school district employees across the county, school is out forever.
Below is a brief look at a handful of longtime employees who are retiring from Whatcom County’s public school districts.
Gayle O’Malley – She has been with Bellingham School District for 44 years, her entire teaching career. She started in the district in 1967, and in 1969 joined Columbia Elementary School, where she has taught ever since. She originally taught elementary special education, then taught second grade. For the past 23 years, she has taught first grade.
Susan Peterson – She was with Bellingham School District her entire 41-year, public-education career when she retired in October 2010. She began in Bellingham in 1969 as a kindergarten teacher at Birchwood Elementary. During her four decades, she taught both elementary and middle school students, and was principal of Lowell Elementary from 1993 through 2002. Her final position with the district was director of federal and special programs.
Aileen Cleary – The Bellingham High principal secretary is leaving the school district after 39 years. She has also worked as the secretary at Alderwood and Larrabee elementary schools and as the principal secretary at Sehome High. She was named Classified Staff Member of the Year by the Washington Education Association in 1983, and in 1995 she received the Christa McAuliffe Award for her volunteer participation. She was president of the Bellingham Association of School Employees 10 times.
Richard Long – He has been with Bellingham School District for the last 30 years, after receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Washington University. Long started in 1981 as a special education teacher at Shuksan Middle School. The next year he transferred to Parkview Elementary, where he worked as a special education teacher through 1996, at which point he transferred to Carl Cozier Elementary. He taught second and third grade there until his retirement.
Judy McCourt – She has been with Meridian School District for 38 years. She was a sixth-grade teacher at Meridian Middle School, a counselor at Irene Reither Primary School, the district’s extended learning coordinator, a student learning plan coordinator for the Meridian Parent Partnership Program, and she taught certification courses to other educators.
Donald “Don” Lotze – He has been with Blaine School District since 1983, teaching science at Blaine High. That is only about half of his teaching career, which spans 40 years and includes time teaching in Nigeria and China.
Below is a list of public school teachers and school district employees who are retiring or leaving their district after several years.
BELLINGHAM
Lori Jo Allison: three years in Bellingham, 16 years in education.
Carolyn Sue Blethen: Bellingham High art teacher, 21 years in Bellingham, 28 years in education.
Everett Bonsor: bus driver, 17 years in Bellingham.
Janice Burns: payroll technician, 11 years in Bellingham.
Donna Clark: bus driver, 29 years in Bellingham.
Dave Hageman: Sehome High social studies teacher, 35 years in Bellingham, 42 years in education.
Richard Harris: custodian, seven years in Bellingham, 30 years in education.
Jean Havland: Bellingham High counselor, 26 years in Bellingham.
Theresa Hayes: Community Transitions vocational counselor, 26 years in Bellingham.
Terri Inge: Kulshan Middle principal’s secretary, 32 years in Bellingham.
Linda Kovol: Wade King Elementary special education teacher, six years in Bellingham, 41 years in education.
Doug Kyles: executive director of school administration, six years in Bellingham, 41 years in education.
Linda Maggard: Parkview Elementary principal’s secretary, 34 years in Bellingham.
Stowell “Toby” McKain: Fairhaven Middle eighth-grade teacher, 23 years in Bellingham, 24 years in education.
Elizabeth Miller: Alderwood Elementary special education teacher, 17 years in Bellingham.
Charm Miller-Davis; Sunnyland Elementary kindergarten teacher, 20 years in Bellingham, 42 years in education.
Beverley Morris: bus driver, 10 years in Bellingham.
Roberta Muggerud: Carl Cozier Elementary paraeducator, 27 years in Bellingham.
Ernest Neuman: bus driver, 18 years in Bellingham
Jill Payne: bus driver, 22 years in Bellingham.
Elaine Perkins: buildings and grounds department secretary, five years in Bellingham.
Thomas Rohde: Parkview Elementary head custodian, 18 years in Bellingham.
Sharon Voth: Squalicum High German teacher, 31 years in Bellingham, 36 years in education.
Elizabeth Wade: Larrabee Elementary teacher, 23 years in Bellingham, 32 years in education.
BLAINE
Donald “Don” Ambrose: grounds, 27 years in Blaine.
Margaret “Megg” Gahard: Blaine Primary second-grade teacher, 28 years in education, all in Blaine.
William “Bill” King: maintenance, 38 years in Blaine.
Nancy Lind: bus driver, 10 years in Blaine, 33 years in education.
John Lind: bus driver, nine years in Blaine.
William “Bill” Marlowe: grounds/maintenance, 24 years in Blaine.
Michael “Mike” Smith: custodian, 16 years in Blaine.
Wesley “Wes” Thompson: maintenance, 19 years in Blaine.
FERNDALE
Karen Ashmore: administrative assistant for curriculum, 12 years in Ferndale.
Mary Conley: bus driver, 23 years in Ferndale (not concurrent).
Kathy Denney: Ferndale High psychologist and girls’ varsity tennis coach, 14 years in Ferndale, 32 years in education.
Judy Hottowe: Ferndale High teacher, 18 years in Ferndale, 36 years in education.
Marcie Loudon: Custer Elementary reading teacher, 15 years in Ferndale (not concurrent), 22 years in education.
Joyce Lucas: Skyline Elementary third-grade teacher, 15 years in Ferndale, 25 years in education. She died May 2.
Kathleen Miller: Skyline Elementary sixth-grade teacher, seven years in Ferndale, 29 years in education.
Kathryn Miller: special services administrative assistant, 10 years in Ferndale.
Chris Seal: transportation router, 18 years in Ferndale.
Cherie Thomas: Ferndale High business education teacher, 32 years in education, all in Ferndale.
LYNDEN
Susan Birlhart: Lynden Middle teacher, 26 years in Lynden.
Linda Burns: Bernice Vossbeck Elementary third-grade teacher, 33 years in Lynden.
Gerald Carlin: custodian, 16 years in Lynden.
Patricia Loop: paraeducator, 16 years in Lynden.
Kristie Petersen: Lynden Middle principal, 11 years in Lynden, 32 years in education.
MERIDIAN
Barbara Crnich: Meridian Middle head secretary, 30 years in Meridian.
Jean Calman: business manager, 25 years in Meridian.
Jack Hager: Meridian Middle teacher, 37 years in Meridian, 51 years in education.
Lilly Megard: HR specialist and student management system specialist, 29 years in Meridian.
MOUNT BAKER
Lucy Ericson: secretary, 16 years in Mount Baker.
Lois Green: food service worker, 12 years in Mount Baker.
Karen Hodges: Harmony Elementary fifth-grade teacher, 27 years in Mount Baker.
Steve Lagerwey: lead elementary custodian, 27 years in Mount Baker.
Judy Sande: district office administrative assistant, 30 years in Mount Baker.
Barbara Webb: Harmony Elementary fourth-grade teacher, 23 years in Mount Baker.
NOOKSACK VALLEY
Linda Barlean: Nooksack Valley Middle paraeducator, 29 years in Nooksack Valley.
Susan Salas-Mitchell: Noosack Valley Middle teacher, 17 years in Nooksack Valley.
Virginia Van Wingerden: Everson Elementary teacher, 22 years in Nooksack Valley.
The Nooksack Valley School District received a clean audit for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years, according to a report released by the State Auditor’s Office on Monday, June 20.
The audit examined the district’s accountability to the public from September 2008 through August 2010. The accountability audit looked at several areas, including the district’s financial condition, the Associated Student Body fundraising, open public meetings act and safeguarding of assets.
In most areas, the audits found the district complied with state laws, however some small matters were brought to the attention of school district officials, according to the report.
In May, the district received a finding in a financial audit that covered the 2009-10 school year. The finding related to how the district was counting student absences and district staff have corrected the problem.
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