Community Letter

Hello LISD Families,

In preparation for fall conferences, we want to acknowledge that you are your child's first and most important teacher. We partner with you in the education of your children, and we value your input and your engagement. Conferences are a great opportunity to share important information about your child's strengths and challenges at both school and home. Conferences should be a two-way conversation with an emphasis on both academic and social emotional learning.

Here is a great checklist to help you get ready for fall conferences:

• Check with teacher(s) to schedule a conference and be sure to add it to your calendar.
• Review your child's grades.
• Talk with your child about their progress in school.
• Make a list of questions to ask during the conference and anything you want to remember to share.
• Think about ways you want to engage in your child's learning, and discuss them with the teacher.

Check out the graphic below for a handy reminder...and maybe some inspiration...for conferences.

We look forward to seeing all of you next Thursday at the LIPTSA Pumpkin Extravaganza!

Our very best to you and your family,

Mary and Martha

Conferences are coming up the week of November 1. For both elementary and secondary families, we are asking you to please bring your student with you to the conference. It is important that students have a voice when adults are talking about their academic progress and learning goals.

Elementary

For elementary families, the conferences will be November 1-4 after 2:15 p.m. Elementary teachers will be contacting each family to let you know when your child's conference has been scheduled, along with instructions for changing the conference day/time if necessary.

Secondary

Secondary conferences will be Wednesday, November 3 after 2:15. Teachers will be reaching out to families next week with information on how to schedule a conference.

Please contact the elementary and/or secondary offices to let us know if you need Spanish interpretation services at your conference(s).

Photographer Kevin Hellriegel will be at school EARLY Monday morning, October 25 for picture retakes in the Library Media Center from 8:00 to 9:30am for staff and students that have not had pictures, would like retakes, or would like to place an order.

Students requesting retakes should bring their picture packets to turn in when they are photographed.

Join the Lopez Island Parent Teacher Student Association (LIPTSA) for a pumpkin-themed extravaganza on Thursday, October 28, from 4pm – 6:30pm in the outdoor pavilion at the Lopez School. The event will include pumpkins for sale ($5/pumpkin), or you can bring your own, and use our carving tools to turn them into jack-o-lanterns, or other pumpkin masterpieces. There will be a pumpkin carving contest for secondary students, with prizes! The evening will also include a Day of the Dead celebration and craft-making, as well as a student art walk, spooky stories, and the Poutine truck will be on-site. Bundle up, wear a mask, and bring the whole family to celebrate pumpkins, Fall, and your school community!

The School Board has created an Equity and Inclusion Committee in an effort to further educate and support our school around these important topics. Our goal is to learn and implement strategies that foster equity, belonging, inclusivity, and positive change. We want to make sure that this group is representative of the diversity of our student population. If you feel called to such work, please reach out to Kelli Carrier at kcarrier@lopezislandschool.org.

The ASB is planning a Veteran's Day assembly and we need to get the word out. If you know a veteran here on Lopez Island, please send me their name and contact info. I'll pass it along to ASB, so they can invite our local veterans to this event.

We are almost finished with the Fall Smarter Balanced testing. We are proud of how hard the students worked and how they took this assessment seriously. There will be a Smarter Balanced make-up test session at 8:40 in the LMC on Wednesday, October 27. Students will be informed prior to the day of testing.

There is one more Washington State required Fall 2021 assessment for Science. Grades 6, 9, and 12 will be taking this assessment in early November. There will be no more Washington State test administrations until April/May 2022.

San Juan County Flu Clinic will be on November 4 from 2:30 to 6:00 PM for all children age 5 through 18 years old. Children under age 12 must be accompanied by an adult. This will be held in the LISD Culinary Arts Room.

TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT PLEASE VISIT www.sanjuanco.com/flu or call 360-378-4474

All children 6 months of age through 5 years of age will need to make an appointment with their primary care provider for this immunization.

Also on the morning of November 4, we will be doing vision tests for the elementary school. The Lions Club will be providing this service.

This coming Tuesday, October 26, we will be hosting a Canvas training for parents via Zoom from 5:30-6:30 PM. Spanish interpretation will be provided and participants on the Spanish channel will be able to have their questions interpreted in real-time during the meeting. Canvas is a powerful tool that has been shown to be particularly helpful to EL students and we very much would like to support our Spanish speaking families with feeling comfortable using it. There has also been a question about the translation of these School Messenger email blasts. These emails are translated for families who have been identified as wanting this service through Qmlativ. If the translation is not coming through and you are using a third-party app to translate your emails, please reach out to the school and we can enable this feature for you.

If you are planning on attending this Canvas training, please be sure to follow this Canvas Parent Login Guide and Guía de inicio de sesión para padres de Canvas in advance. If you or your student are still not able to get logged in after following these instructions, please reach out to me via email or phone and I can assist. It’s important that these initial steps are followed to be respectful of folks who have done this work already and to get the most out of our time at this meeting.

Here is the zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89166232589.

Here are a few pictures & captions of our October learning. Decatur (Dogfish) field trip to Sparks Museum of Electricity and Inventions - a complimentary extension to our learning about electromagnetism in dogfish, other sharks, and rays. Play rehearsal for The Princess & the Frog - literacy & performing arts at its best! Sewing buttons -we strengthened fine motor skills after reading the Frog and Toad story 'The Button.'

• The dance will be held in the multi purpose room.
• Students may wear costumes.
• Students must wear masks....the Covid safety kind, not the costume kind.
• We will do temp checks and Covid screening questions at the door.
• Students will pay $5 to get into the dance, or pay for ASB card, which will get them into the dance for free.

• Middle school boys basketball starts next week on October 25.
• High school basketball will start November 15 or November 22. It will depend on the date of the first game. The schedule isn’t complete from the new assignor yet.
• Middle school girls basketball will begin on January 3, right after winter break.
• High school track/golf will begin February 21 or February 28, depending on the first matches.

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, Renee Koplan – rkoplan@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.

Email: mmartin@lopezislandschool.org
Website: lopezislandschool.org
Location: 86 School Road, Lopez Island, WA, USA
Phone: (360) 468-2202
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lopez-Island-School-District-500747673389618