LISD School Newsletter

Dear LISD Families,

This week, I'm shining the light on the Coast Salish: Land, Sea, & Place program for our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. This program is a partnership with the Lopez Island Family Resource Center, and the magic happens in May. Our students will spend four days and three nights at Camp Moran on Orcas Island. They will travel to outer islands, learn from tribal elders, build outdoor skills, and learn and grow together in the natural world. I'll send home a Parent Square message with more details soon. For now, here are some dates to add to your calendar:

• Meeting for 6th, 7th, 8th Grade Parents/Guardians: Monday, March 31, 5:30-6:30
• May 6 -9 - 8th Grade Camp
• May 12 - 15 - 7th Grade Camp
• May 19 - 22 - 6th Grade Camp

We have so much appreciation for Susannah Dunlop, Youth Engagement Programs Director, and the LIFRC for securing the grant to make this possible. This is the third year of the program, and it just keeps getting more amazing.

Please have a great weekend.

All my best,

Martha

• March 17: Conference slots open up in Parent Square
• March 18: Golf vs Lummi, tee off at 1 pm. Lopez Island Golf Course

• March 19: Vaccine Clinic at School (see article below)

• March 20: Golf vs LaConner, tee off at 1 pm. Lopez Island Golf Course

• March 21: Middle School Dance, 8 pm, MS Commons

• March 29: Lopez Island PTSA Talent Show & Auction, Lopez Community Center

• March 31: Camp Moran Parent Meeting, 5:30 am

Yesterday, 7th-12th grade Lobo musicians performed in our Spring Concert, showcasing Band, Sinfonia, and Mariachi Lobo. This was our first concert featuring chamber groups, smaller groups of students who play without a conductor. Chamber groups are a great way for students to develop independence in learning and preparing music for performance - when we have chamber group time in class, students spend most of the time working independently to learn their parts & put their piece together, since I can only work with one group at a time.

I’m proud of the work the students have put in learning their instruments & parts this year, and for being willing to showcase their skills in front of an audience. While their musical skills are most on display at a concert, there are other important lessons students learn through performing: they learn to understand & manage their own emotions when feeling nervous before a performance, they develop coping skills, perseverance, and grit when a performance doesn’t go exactly as they’d hoped, and they learn the importance of seeing a task through to completion and valuing the process as much as the final product. Thank you to everyone who came out to the concert to celebrate our Lobo musicians, and I hope you are just as proud of your students as I am.

Please join Lopez Island Parent Teacher Student Association for our 3rd Annual Show & Auction. New talent, fantastic aution items, and even a lip sync contest!!

Buy your tickets here. Tickets are limited and last year we sold out. There is no guarantee we will have tickets at the door.

When: Saturday, March 29th, 2025

Where: Lopez Island Community Center for the Arts

Time: Doors open at 5 p.m. Show starts at 6 p.m.

Price: Kids 18 and under are free, Adults $20.

Buy your tickets now!

Lopez school community: we are looking into doing a website "refresh" and would like your feedback. This short survey should take you less than 2 minutes and it would be so helpful for us. Thank you!

LISD Website Survey

Want to host an exchange student and bring the world to our beautiful island OR want to learn more about opportunities for your Lopez School student to study abroad in another country?

Join Superintendent Brady Smith and our partners at CIEE on Tuesday, March 25th from 6-7pm to provide info to interested families about student exchange programs.

Topic: CIEE Student Exchange Info Session
Time: Mar 25, 2025 06:00 PM
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81955817169
Meeting ID: 819 5581 7169

Shawna Busey, the coordinator who works with host families in this region and a representative for 'outbound' students to answer questions about sending your student on exchange.

Students who want to study abroad can learn about the High School Summer Abroad (3-8 weeks in summer), HS Semester Abroad (one HS term), or for recent high school graduates, the Gap Year Abroad program.

The students in the 1st and 2nd grade classroom have been busy this week.

• We are finishing place value and moving to "monster math facts" next week;
• We will soon be finishing up Australia and moving to Europe;
• We are continuing with our reading groups and rotations, and all the structures that Ms. Rachel so masterfully set up;
• We have filled up the marble jar, and so will have a simple "marble party" on Wednesday, with extra recess and Makerspace time. Next time we will dream up something more complicated!

Thank you to Janna Wiscomb for contributing baby wipes, and to Isabella Velazquez-Cerda and family for bringing nutrition bars. This is greatly appreciated!

I continue to feel grateful that I can spend time with these exceptional children!

Ann Marie, 1st & 2nd Grade Teacher

The school is hosting one final vaccine clinic this year. If your child is lacking any of the required vaccines, please take advantage of this opportunity. Parents or guardians please register ahead of time here. You can also call 360-378-4474 to schedule an appointment.

Every student will get a yearbook this year - unless your family has specifically opted out.

Students who qualify for free or reduced lunch lunch will have their yearbook fee waived. For all other students, families will be automatically invoiced for the cost of the yearbook in the spring. The cost of the yearbooks is $43 for a K-12 hardcover and $23 for a K-6 elementary paperback. Secondary students will receive the K-12 hardcover and elementary students will receive the K-6 paperback

If you would like to order an EXTRA yearbook, use one of the forms below. No form is required if you only need one yearbook per student.

Yearbook Order Form English

Yearbook Order Form Spanish

As a culmination of learning about plant parts and their functions, we are cooking with different plant parts. This week featured cooking the fruit, in the form of cranberries.

Brady Smith, Superintendent

Martha Martin, K-12 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, and Title IX Coordinator Sarah Rucker; Section 504, Steven Dahl. OR contact by phone, 360-468-2202, OR mail to 86 School Rd, Lopez Island, WA 98261.