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February Greetings!
February greetings as we have officially passed the midway point in our school year. Our second semester has begun and we are in the midst of analyzing and responding to midyear indicators, including our forthcoming grades and recent winter iReady diagnostic assessments. This midway point is a perfect time to assess progress to date and revisit goals as our students dive into their second semester.
One of the most impactful indicators related to academic success is daily attendance. Last year, we made significant strides in improving our attendance rates including the percentage of our students that attend at least 90% of our school days. That noted, our current attendance rates still lag behind our pre-pandemic attendance rates by nearly 20%. This means that more of our students are missing more days of school each year. These absences have a detrimental impact on educational opportunities and outcomes.
This midpoint in the year is a perfect time to revisit attendance trends and set growth goals. Our attendance goal for each/every student is 90% (or more), meaning that we need our students here, nine of every ten school days.
Below are important February dates and updates. This includes an important update related to near-campus safety. Please take a moment to read through the below.
Thank you for your time in reading this update - Enjoy & goNorth!
Update: Community and Campus Safety at North
The past few weeks have been challenging in terms of off-campus incidents involving our North students. In January, one of our students was randomly attacked and stabbed while walking to school. Thankfully, he is safe, well, and has returned to school. On Tuesday afternoon of this week, two unknown (non-school related) individuals attempted to rob one of our North students as he was walking home from school (near the intersection of Broadway/25th). Suspects related to both of these incidents have been identified and arrested. Everett Police Department officers were quick to inform us of the developing incident on Tuesday and on Wednesday (2/5), we were provided appropriate details and context.
Undoubtedly, these incidents have raised concern as every responsible member of our school and community prioritizes the safety of our students, including their travels to and from school. The Everett Police Department have been outstanding partners, especially across these past few weeks. Not only have patrols and visits increased but EPD leaders, including Chief DeRousse, have visited our campus multiple times to check-in and assess our needs. District and city leaders alike continue to prioritize safety for our students in the areas around North, Everett High School, and other nearby schools. As principal, I am exceptionally grateful for their immediate responsiveness and diligent follow through. I am confident in their leadership and our collective ability, as the North Community, to address what we need to strengthen and emerge a better place for our children, families, and neighbors.
Challenges always illuminate the best of humanity and I am grateful to have experienced the love, support, and pride of our North Everett community across these recent weeks. Thank you all for your continued engagement and support.
Honoring Black History Month, Together!
February begins our celebration of Black History Month across our North campus and North Everett community. Our STARs will engage in meaning, collective opportunities to honor the vast accomplishments of Black Americans to our country (past, present, and future). This includes young leaders of today and tomorrow who are continually defining and redefining our world for the better.
Black History Month is an essential, collective opportunity and as a school, it is time of meaningful learning and reflection, as we gain strength from the past towards building a better future. Across the coming four weeks, our school will learn and share together in celebration and solidarity. We invite you to join us in our collective efforts, to ensure that this month does not pass without our utmost intentionality and sincerity.
National School Counseling Week
This week, despite the challenges of the weather, we are celebrating our North Counseling team as part of National School Counseling Week. In doing so, we want to publicly acknowledge and thank Jenny Steele (8th grade), Suzy Smothers (7th grade), Shannon Frasier (6th grade), and Jen Byrne (6th grade), for all that they do for our students, families, and school, each day. So much of their work is hidden from our plain sight as they work to support individual students. Yet, the outcomes of their efforts are obvious and appreciated by each person that they positively impact. We value them everyday but especially in this week that celebrates school counselors nationwide, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to our North Counseling team.
Coming Soon: iReady Pro for Reading & Math
As noted across the past few months, North will be piloting a new, academic support program, iReady Pro. This is different from the iReady program that elementary students utilize but the parent company, Curriculum Associates, is the same and the content is reading, writing, and math specific. iReady Pro pairs with our recent winter diagnostic exams and scaffolds learning opportunities for students that is aligned with their identified areas of need. With nearly 700 continuously updated lessons and learning progressions, there is something for every student.
In the coming weeks, we will begin this pilot for all of our students - sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. As a pilot, it is likely that we will need to learn and iterate as we progress. It should also be noted that this opportunity is supplemental in nature and will not replace our curriculum or classroom teaching/learning. It is likely that we will utilize a STAR-like period as part of our regular schedule to ensure that students have some time to engage in the recommended 90 minutes of weekly activity (45 minutes of weekly math + 45 minutes of weekly reading/writing).
Our North team will begin our training next week as we prepare to begin this opportunity in late February. Please know that additional updates are forthcoming as we near our launch date.
2025/26 Class Registration
Hard to believe but class registration for the upcoming 2025/2026 school year is just around the corner. This year, our registration process will be slightly accelerated in terms of our timeline. As a district and school, we are preparing to implement a new Student Information System (SIS) which requires that we have draft class and schedule information entered before the rollover occurs in late June. That noted, update course catalogs are expected shortly and once we have that information, we will begin our process with our sixth, seventh, and eighth graders to consider classes for the upcoming school year. This includes our eighth graders connecting with the team at Everett High School. Our first engagement in that regard will be a student assembly/introductory session with EHS on Friday, 2/21.
Listed below are a few key dates in our registration timeline. Additional updates including more specifics related to our class selection process are forthcoming as we progress into the coming spring.
- 2/20: Incoming 6th Grade Family Night (6:00pm/North Commons)
- 3/4: EHS Night for Incoming 9th Graders
- 3/19: EHS Transition Day at North (high school class requests entered)
- 3/21: Class Selections Information Shared w/ 6th/7th Graders
- 3/28: 6th/7th Graders Select Requested Classes
- 3/28: EHS Assembly for 8th Graders (specific to clubs/activities)
Coming Soon: Annual Student Surveys
To inform our district and school efforts to continuously grow/improve, we utilize a variety of stakeholder surveys, including our Annual Stakeholder series each spring. These include surveys for families, our students, and our North staff. Feedback from these surveys helps our team better understand what's going well, what's improving, and what we need to fix. In addition to this survey data, we utilize student achievement outcomes, attendance rates, behavior/discipline rates, and program data to evaluate and revise our school's School Improvement Plan and goals.
For these annual surveys, we utilize an online platform through Panorama Education that provides quick, easy, confidential user access. Many of these questions are purposefully repetitive in nature and provide us with an understanding of whether needs are trending up or down. Additionally, some of the student survey questions are related to social-emotional health. As we shared prior to the fall administration in this regard, student level data related to social-emotional health provides us with a needed tool for understanding how our students are feeling.
Please know that feedback gained from these surveys is only shared with pre-approved professionals who work closely with our STARs here at North. Relevant social-emotional health data, alongside academic and attendance information, provides our team with the snapshot of needs required to improve and align our supports.
Please also know that the questions/responses related to our annual student survey are anonymous. Reported data is composite in nature, and protects individual responses. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our North Office. Our students are scheduled to participate in their spring surveys on Friday, March 7th. Make-ups/continuations will occur the following Friday, March 14th. If you do not want your child/children to participate in this survey, please contact us via email.
Upcoming Assessment Windows:
Many of our students will begin participating in the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) exams next week (2/10). WIDA is an annual English language proficiency assessment for students in Washington state who are enrolled in English language development classes, programs, or services. Students engage in these language-specific assessments on an annual basis, typically in late winter.
Over 100 of our STARs will be engaging in these WIDA assessments, beginning next week. Time spent engaging with these assessments will be limited and students will not miss significant class/learning time. For additional information, please see our district website, the State's webpage, and/or the WIDA Consortium.
Winter II Athletics Update
Seventh and eighth grade Girls Basketball is underway with our first home games this week (Thursday 2/6 v. Olympic View). Coed Wrestling is right around the corner, and begins on Wednesday, February 19th. This year, our wresters will enjoy new uniforms (left), a outcome of our fall fundraiser - Thank you!
As our Winter II seasons get fully underway, please remember that our spring sport is Track & Field. Track & Field is an open sixth seventh, and eighth grade sport. Sixth graders are allowed to learn and practice this year but won't be eligible to compete until the spring of 2026 (only seventh/eighth graders are eligible to compete in competitions). Nevertheless, Track & Field provides a great opportunity for students to learn new events and skills. North has a long history of outstanding Track & Field teams including our 2024 Championship Team. We encourage all of our interested scholar athletes to join this spring.
February Edition of EPS District News
Each month, our Everett Public Schools produce a district newsletter specifically for our Everett families. Please CLICK HERE to access the February edition of News Links
