Lakewood School District
May 2024
Greetings,
I hope that this message finds you well, as we close the books on the 2023-2024 school year and officially welcome in summer. The last couple weeks of the school year were full of activities as we recognized our graduates, our retiring colleagues, and celebrate the conclusion of another successful year of learning, community, and achievement across our schools. Our 41st Lakewood High School graduation took place the evening of June 7 at the high school stadium under the setting sun of a beautiful Pacific Northwest evening. We were joined by over 2,000 attendees to recognize the 187 graduating seniors, and it was a wonderful evening of reflection, excitement and joy.
On June 11, we celebrated our staff, recognizing years of service in Lakewood School District and colleagues who are retiring. On June 20, we also recognized the contributions of our community members and their service to the district with the annual Heart of Lakewood awards. I am pleased to announce that we have three recipients this year: Mel Irish, Jahna Smith, and Ken Christiansen. Additional information about their contributions and service can also be found later in this newsletter.
While it seems summer just started, our minds are never far away from the start of the coming school year, and on this note, I wanted to provide you with a couple of updates/reminders. Over the course of this summer, our district website will be migrating to a new platform. Our current provider (Blackboard) has been bought out and we will be working to transition to the new platform (FinalSite) over the summer. While the website will look different when you return, it will still have all of the key information for staff, students, and families and hopefully will be a little easier to navigate. Another migration on the horizon is the change over from Skyward to Qmlativ (pronounced cumulative). While this transition will not officially occur until spring break of next year, there is considerable work occurring across the summer and next year by members of our district team to support this transition, with this change impacting our student management, employee access, financial, and human resources data.
Wishing you a wonderful summer and looking forward to next fall.
All my best,
Erin
Melanie Irish, LWSD staff/Lakewood Education Foundation/Class of 2024 Grad Night Committee
Melanie Irish, Career Center Specialist at Lakewood High School, goes above and beyond to ensure that every student receives individual attention and advice to navigate the college application process and provide information about different careers paths. Mrs. Irish “fosters a nurturing environment where we feel encouraged to explore our passions and pursue our dreams with confidence,” wrote one graduating senior.
This year, Melanie was the co-president of the Class of 2024 Grad Night committee, which raised $45,000 to provide students with a safe senior party following graduation. Melanie is also the vice president of the Lakewood Education Foundation, a nonprofit that raises funds for programs, activities, materials, and scholarships for students. “If Melanie is aware of a student with a need, she ensures that the need is met,” wrote Sara Pevny.
Jahna Smith and Ken Christiansen, Lakewood H.E.L.P. Committee
Ken’s knowledge of utilizing “voter buddies” and his determination showed his heart for our school district, supporting education and our students, wrote Jahna Smith. “His efforts will have a lasting impact for many years to come.”
Congratulations to our Heart of Lakewood award recipients. We are grateful for your contributions to our community!
Join us for free summer meals! From June 24-July 31, free breakfast and lunch will be available in the cafeteria at Lakewood High School, Monday through Thursday. No meals will be served on July 4.
Need a ride? Community Transit Route 240 buses run along 172nd Street approximately every hour. Kids can ride Community Transit buses for free.
Breakfast will be available from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Lunch will be available 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Students taking summer classes at Lakewood Elementary will be able to eat breakfast at LES.
Children 18 and under may receive a free meal to eat at the school through the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program. Students enrolled in summer learning will receive their free meals during their program.
Double your Sun Bucks at Farmers Markets
The SUN Bucks, or Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT) program, provides a grocery benefit of $120 per eligible school-aged child during the summer.
In addition to grocery stores and other food retailers, SUN Bucks can be used at other places where EBT benefits are accepted, such as the Stilly Valley Farmers Market and the Marysville 3rd Street Farmers Market, which will match EBT funds up to $25, effectively doubling your purchasing power to enjoy more of what our local farmers have to offer.
Next April, the newest version of Skyward, called Qmlativ, comes to Lakewood schools. This is a significant upgrade to our student information, human resource, and business systems. We anticipate that families will appreciate the new features available with Qmlativ.
District staff are working closely with the Qmlativ support team to successfully migrate important data over to the new system. We will let you know more about what to expect in the weeks before Qmlativ is available to families, currently estimated at April 7, 2025.
During the 2024-25 school year, Lakewood School District will provide all school supplies for students except for a backpack. If families cannot provide a backpack, schools will help students access one with the help of our community partners. Look for more information about our Back-to-School Resource Fair on August 21!
Driver training begins August 5
Training begins August 5 for substitute van drivers and bus drivers. Open driver positions will be posted in early September.
See our website and tell your friends about the following open positions.
- Speech Language Pathologist (Elementary)
- Custodian (LES)
- Paraeducator (multiple positions)
- Assistant Coach (LHS) Football, Volleyball
- Head Coach (LMS) Volleyball
Substitutes are also needed in multiple positions: teachers, bus drivers, paraeducators, food service, student supervision and custodial.
During the sixth-grade outdoor education trip to Camp Casey, sixth graders had a chance to tour the Search & Rescue helicopter from NAS Whidbey Island. The helicopter landed on the parade field and students were able to walk through, sit in the seats and talk with members of the air crew about how they keep our greater community safe.