New La Conner School Superintendent Will Nelson cannot stress enough the value of doing one’s homework.

That goes for him as well as the nearly 600 students he and school district staff will greet this fall as La Conner transitions from on-line and hybrid instructional models employed last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

School board members chose Nelson this past spring following a rigorous selection process to succeed Rich Stewart as the district’s lead administrator. Nelson had been director of equity and student success at Arlington Public Schools.

Still, he did not arrive here...