Community Letter

Dear LISD Families,

November 11 is Veteran's Day. Earlier this week, LISD staff and students honored our local veterans with a special K-12 assembly, planned and facilitated by our ASB. The assembly included music, poetry, introductions, and speeches by ASB president, Valentina Rendon, and our superintendent and Navy veteran, Ed Murray. Elementary students made an American flag poster for the veterans with hand cut outs and notes of gratitude. ASB officers and representatives baked an impressive array of goodies and hosted a tea party for veterans following the assembly.

We are filled with gratitude for those who have served our country, and Veteran's Day gives all of us an opportunity to celebrate them.

All our best to you and your family,

Mary and Martha

Our school's Music Production and Performance Artist Collective for Teens (MPPACT) performed spooky hits for a huge audience of trunk-or-treaters in Lopez Village last week. They will be shifting gears and getting ready to perform wintery holiday hits for the LICC Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 25th at the tower in Lopez Village at 5 PM and for the Little Winter Market on December 10th at 11 AM.

Middle school boys' basketball is underway with two home games last week and one coming up next week on Thursday, November 17 at 2:15.

High school basketball practice begins on Monday, November 14. We are excited to announce that there will be a coaching change for the 2022-2023 Basketball season. Our very own Shane Patrick will go from coaching varsity girls basketball to varsity boys basketball. Shane is very excited to make this move and coach his son for his senior year of basketball. Congratulations Shane! Our varsity girls will also have a new coach, Karrie Warner. She has been on the island for 3 years and working at the school for 2 1/2 years. She was the Nooksack Valley Middle School head coach for 10 years, closely working with their girls varsity coach to adapt a system that ran through their program from youth sports to middle school and into high school. We are excited to see what this year brings for both teams.

Go Lobos!

Elementary Community Soccer is happening this winter in the school gym, Sundays 4-5. So far, we have primarily attracted younger elementary players but all elementary players are welcome. We will need parent participation to make this successful as it is modeled after the other community sports programs. There is no coach or formal organization. We will see who turns up and kick the ball around with whoever comes to play. A coordinating parent will be there each time to set up the gym and help supervise and engage kids. The PACK has offered to sponsor us. Each individual will need to sign a waiver the first time they come to play. Hope to see you there!

This Saturday will be movie, game and snacks at the Lopez Library. Next week, glow games at the school.

Short-term, Long-term, part-time, full-time, daily, weekly... whatever you want, there is a position here for you!!!!!

Many of these positions qualify for Medical, Dental, Vision, & Retirement benefits, plus EAP and paid leave time (personal, sick, & vacation). Allocations are based on hourly commitment and classification.

Classified:

· * New* Leave Replacement Food Services Manager - This exciting, professionally enriching, and challenging position will provide tremendous opportunities for professional growth in a food services program that has earned state, regional and national recognition. The District is looking for a Leave Replacement Food Services Manager to work from the beginning of January 2023 thru the end of the 2022-2023 school year (June 16th, 2023).

· ParaEducators - Interested in working with students individually, in small groups, and/or in general classrooms and helping assist teachers in modifying student behavior? Then Paraeducator is your dream job, and we have positions available!

· Special Needs Behavior Technician- If you have been thinking about being a Special Needs Behavior Technician for Lopez Island School District...well you are in luck!!!! We are looking for a Special Needs Behavior Technician to hire for this school year!! Behavior technicians are responsible for assisting behavior specialists and the Special Education department to implement behavior reduction and skill acquisition treatment plans. The candidate will assist students with day to day activities, monitor their behavior, record and collect data on students’ progress, and communicate with the team.

· Special Services Administrative Assistant- to provide assistance to the Special Services Coordinator and the District’s Special Services programs. There will be a high degree of confidentiality and attention to detail required, as this person works with parents, students, and others to serve students with special needs and those struggling with school. There will be some flexibility of schedule desired, but the position is based upon 15 hours per week throughout the calendar year.

· Van Driver - Want to get out and see the island? This transportation position drives a wheelchair van (or another vehicle) to transport student(s) with special needs to and from school. This 3.5 hour per day, Monday through Friday.

Certificated Teaching:

· .6 to .8 Music Teacher - This is a teaching position to work with elementary, middle and high school students as a Music teacher starting the second semester of 2022 – 2023 school year (January – June 2023). The .6 instructor would be responsible for elementary Music class, one middle school Music class, and one high school Music class. There is a zero period Orchestra class that can be added to make this a .8 FTE position.

· FTE Special Education Teacher- We are looking for a full-time Special Education teacher to help serve our students starting ASAP. This 7.5 hour per day, Monday through Friday.

- Stipend:

· HI CAP - providing leadership of the Special Service Program for Highly Capable (HC) students, grades K-12, in the Lopez Island School District.

- Substitutes:

· Certificated Teachers

· Paraeducators

· Bus Drivers

· Cooks

You can see full postings on our website! Just go to District Info and then to HR and Employment for more details.

We look forward to working with you!!!

The past week has been busy with our first major COVID experience of the year. Our

investigation shows that the spread began with extracurricular activities and festivities

surrounding Halloween. Then, specific activities at school allowed the virus to spread before the

first cases were detected or reported. The great concern is always the spread within households

once a single individual contracts the virus. The rapid expansion of the number of cases we have

accounted for was the transfer of the virus between siblings. We have not had any reports of our

students or staff experiencing any severe symptoms due to contracting the virus. This is, of

course, good news, but this experience should be a reminder to all of us that COVID-19 is still

present in our lives and can spread rapidly when we are not taking precautions.

As we approach the Thanksgiving and winter holiday seasons, we ask that everyone take

appropriate precautions to protect themselves and their loved ones. As always, we must all work

together to avoid a future COVID-19 spike in our schools. If you or your children are not feeling

well, we urge you to stay home and get tested for COVID-19 (we can provide you with test kits

if necessary) or see your primary care physician to get tested for the flu.

We have been working with San Juan County Health to manage the current situation. The good

news is that we have not had a new case reported in the past two days, and some of the students

are beginning to return from their isolation periods. We expect the balance of the current cases to

return early next week. We will do our best to keep you informed.

Ed Murray, Superintendent

Martha Martin, Secondary Principal

Mary Fordham, Elementary Principal

The Lopez Island School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employee(s) has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, Ed Murray – emurray@lopezislandschool.org; Title IX Coordinator, HR Specialist, Summer Hagge – shagge@lopezislandschool.org; Section 504, Mary Fordham – mfordham@lopezislandschool.org; OR contact by phone, 360-468-2202, OR mail to 86 School Rd, Lopez Island, WA 98261.

Website: lopezislandschool.org
Location: 86 School Road, Lopez Island, WA, USA
Phone: 360-468-2202