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It has often been dark and gloomy during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Friday was not one of those times. At least not for members of the La Conner High Class of 2021 and their families and friends. It was, instead, a rare opportunity to celebrate. Together. Bright sunshine and a spectacular view of Mt. Baker greeted the class and about 500 people attending outdoor commencement exercises at Whitaker Field for what was an often emotional 75-minute program. Valedictorian Sarah Malcomson and...
He rode into town, donned a mask and saved the day. The Lone Ranger? No, but in the eyes of many the above aptly describes La Conner School District Superintendent Rich Stewart, who last summer inherited the reins of a district still reeling from prior labor and contract disputes and political fallout that had seen an almost complete turnover of the district’s board of trustees. Plus, there was COVID-19. Stewart, whose one-year tenure here ends June 30, would be the last person to label what h...
Saying goodbye is never easy. Because of that, La Conner schools softened the departures of those retiring or leaving the district for other jobs with a two-hour farewell celebration heavy on humor at the elementary campus Thursday afternoon. District Maintenance Director Brian Masonholder set the tone in paying tribute to his aunt, custodian Sandy Rowland, retiring after 24 years at La Conner Schools. “She’s the only La Conner Schools employee,” said Masonholder, “who has changed my diaper.” Superintendent Rich Stewart, leaving after ser...
A La Conner High School student group was to have taken a science field trip to the beach last Tuesday on what would have been a perfect warm and sunny outing. But, as has been the case for more than a year, COVID-19 protocols forced a change in plans. Thankfully, due to the adaptability of La Conner school district and the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve staffs, students in the Between Two Worlds Indigenous Science class could still enjoy the beach life. Padilla Bay’s Annie English and Madi McKay brought forage fish eggs to t...
Going on retreat was the best path forward for La Conner schools officials last week. School board members spent their three-hour retreat May 21 applying the finishing touches to the district’s new strategic plan, a process that has been two years in the making. They worked on next year’s budget and discussed capital improvements and naming two new student reps. That set the stage for formal action at its May 24 meeting. Members unanimously adopted a strategic plan designed to create a learning environment in which the academic and social emo...
La Conner students are daily taught the power of critical thinking. School officials are also embracing that lesson as they begin analyzing data collected from surveys whose input will help shape a draft district strategic plan addressing key academic and campus culture goals and objectives. La Conner school board members and administrators hosted a two-hour presentation Monday night by Roni Rumsey, director of professional learning at the Center for Educational Effectiveness. She shared insight into how data analysis can play a vital role in...
The La Conner High School Knowledge program is virtually – and truly – among the best in the country. La Conner’s “Chronically Iliad” team competed earlier this month against schools of all sizes in the inaugural virtual National Knowledge Bowl Tournament, placing fourth among entries from 1A enrollment campuses. Knowledge Bowl coaches Beth Clothier and Christi Malcomson said the La Conner team, which “competed up” as a 2B entry, underwent six rounds of oral and written questions...
Homecoming at La Conner schools will be earlier than usual this year. That is true, at least, for the district’s new assistant principal and athletics director. School Board members last week hired La Conner alum Christine Bruffy Tripp, currently the principal at Concrete High School, to return to her alma mater starting July 1. The board decision was unanimous, with member Lynette Bruffy Cram – Tripp’s sister – recusing herself from the vote. Tripp previously served an administrative internship at La Conner schools, middle and hig...
State lawmakers have decided the time has long since passed that use by public schools of Native American sports mascots goes unchecked. And on that score La Conner schools, home of the Braves, has already proved ahead of the game. The local school district has an established history of responding to Swinomish Tribal Community requests regarding imagery portraying Native Americans, most notably the decision several years ago to substitute an interlocking L and C for tribal caricatures as the school logo. That kind of collaboration is what...
Narrowing the field is not the sole domain of college basketball this month. La Conner school board members last weekend chose two finalists from among 21 applicants for the district’s superintendent position, the last step in a process that began last fall. David Forsythe, assistant superintendent of operations at Northwest Educational Services District #189, which serves 35 public school entities and 170,000 students in Skagit, Island, San Juan, Snohomish and Whatcom counties, and Will N...
The public is encouraged to attend community meetings 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, March 29-30 to meet and interview the finalist candidates for superintendent of the La Conner School District in the Bruce Performing Arts Center Auditorium and Zoom.. Each finalistwill beon campus for events scheduled 8 a.m.-7 p.m. with staff,Swinomish Tribal Senators, an open public community meeting and an executive session with the board. David Forsythe, assistant director from NWESD 189 in Anacortes returns Monday.Will Nelson, director of equity, Arlington...
The La Conner School Board held a special meeting Monday that lived up to its name. It was termed “special” because it opened with a walking tour of the campus. What was truly special came next. The members convened their first in-person meeting in a year – since the COVID-19 pandemic forced closure of schools statewide last March and led the board to conduct its public sessions on the Zoom tele-conferencing platform. Masked and socially distanced, board members met in the district administration building to hear updates on La Con...
Interim La Conner schools Superintendent Rich Stewart and school district voters have given a giant present to students, staff, parents and the yet-to-be-chosen new school superintendent: an overwhelming, 71% yes vote in the Feb. 9 election for a four year replacement educational programs and operations levy. Most of the remaining ballots were counted Thursday. In La Conner, 361 more yes votes were in the additional 542 ballots. The Concrete Schools renewal levy for educational programs and operations won with 57.9% of the vote, as did the two...
La Conner Schools is back on the road to in-person instruction. The proof is in the familiar yellow buses that have begun picking up and delivering students along a half-dozen routes in the school district. The buses began rolling Feb. 1 as students in lower grades returned to campus under a plan that will see older students gradually phased into La Conner Elementary by the end of the month. The sight of school buses with flashing lights on La Conner area roads is fairly common, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made necessary an even greater...
The push to re-open schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a national call that teachers, administrators and support staff be vaccinated as they return to campus. A partnership between La Conner schools and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community has made that happen locally. Swinomish health team members administered vaccines to around 100 La Conner Schools employees last Wednesday, midway point of the first week students in lower elementary grades returned to campus. Swinomish Health Administrator Jennifer LaPointe teamed with La...
Oprah Winfrey is quoted as saying, “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.” Our School District is in the process of another change, which means there is an impact on our community as well. The La Conner School District has set a target date of February 1 to begin bringing students back to school. This will be a phased approach starting with pre-first grade students in a hybrid model; the details are on the La Conner School District website. We are hopeful that by the end of...
Interim superintendent Rich Stewart has been a virtual presence around greater La Conner in recent days. Stewart, who assumed the district helm last July, has given a series of Zoom presentations to the Town Council, Swinomish Tribal Senate and local service organizations and residents, outlining the upcoming La Conner Schools replacement levy proposal. The Feb. 9 ballot measure seeks to collect $1.45 per $1,000 assessed taxable property value, a five-cent decrease from the rate district voters approved in 2019, Stewart explained to Council...
Going digital has been the norm in public education since the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes on-line last spring. But within the La Conner Schools art department the learning curve has been less steep. District tech director Ryan Hiller brought a digital art class into the curriculum several years ago and last September veteran art teacher Patty Weber began teaching a technical art class on distance education platforms. Weber, who majored in Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Oregon,...
Residents from the La Conner, Concrete and Mount Vernon school districts have a Feb. 9 special election to renew school levies. The districts need to continue local funding for educational programs and operations (EPO). The La Conner School Board voted in November to ask voters to approve a four-year, $1.45 per $1,000 in assessed valuation, a decrease from the $1.50 per $1,000 collected under the two-year levy voters passed in 2019. The funds will pay for school programs and services and non-capital expenses not fully funded by the state,...
Dear Parents and Guardians, When I began as La Conner’s superintendent in July and August, we faced a decision about how to safely serve our La Conner students during the COVID emergency. In late August, the school board approved a remote learning plan that indicated we would not make any major changes in our remote service model until the trimester or semester. We have followed that plan. With the escalation of the number of infection rates, currently over 350 per 100,000 county resients, it looked like we would need to remain remote longer. F...
Before COVID-19, Back to School was a late summer ad campaign. But now, with winter having arrived, the key issue remains the conditions for making schools safe enough for students to return on a limited basis. La Conner Schools, like districts around the nation, has conducted on-line instruction this fall to stem spread of the coronavirus. Just how much longer that format will remain in place remains unclear, but key decisions could be made next month. They were discussed at the Dec. 14 teleconferenced La Conner School Board meeting. Based on...
During a 90-minute Zoom meeting Monday, La Conner School Board Members heard results of public focus group sessions on the status of the district, then began setting a salary range for the next superintendent. Consultants Mark Venn and Dr. Wayne Robertson said about 100 focus group participants identified district strengths and challenges and the attributes the public values in a superintendent. “There was a lot of really good feedback,” Venn said of the teleconferenced meetings. “We had a wide range of groups, from alumni to the Chamber of Co...
La Conner School Board members were in a thankful mood Monday and hope to be so again in February when voters consider a four-year replacement educational programs and operations levy totaling $4,036,344. Acting on recommendations from a levy election committee co-chaired by La Conner alums Robert Hancock and Jerry Carr, the board, during a 90-minute Zoom meeting, unanimously approved a resolution putting the ballot measure before school district voters on Feb. 9, 2021. If approved, the levy rate on taxable property would be $1.45 per $1,000...
Normal life has been hammered hard by COVID-19. But the virus crisis, which led La Conner Schools to adopt a distance learning model this semester, is not stopping construction class students from continuing to build their projects. More important, the pandemic is also teaching them how to build lifelong problem-solving skills. Credit La Conner High shop teacher Daniel Castillo with laying the foundation to help his students overcome obstacles related to virtual classrooms and technology dependence. “When we come to technology challenges or lif...
The Board of Skagit County Commissioners will award a total of $989,000 to schools and districts serving Skagit County students to assist with costs of distance learning and safe reopening during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress earlier this year provided funding to the County to assist with COVID-19 related concerns and expenses in the community. The County has awarded funding to public and private schools serving Skagit County students based on student headcounts...