FYI: Your Schools
Published 11:09 pm Monday, February 25, 2008
Monroe band to play fundraiser for festival trip
Monroe High School’s Band Boosters plan a Sweet Swing Spectacular fundraiser on March 8 at Park Place Middle School, 1408 W. Main St., Monroe.
Tickets are $15 per person and are available from jazz band students or at the door.
The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. with a silent auction and desserts.
Entertainment features the 30 musicians from Monroe High School’s instrumental jazz department under the direction of band teacher Lisa White. Musical selections include big band standards such as “Satin Doll,” “In the Mood” and “Caravan” as well as some newer tunes.
Band Boosters have been collecting auction donations from merchants and residents.
Proceeds benefit the musicians performing at the Heritage Band Festival in Anaheim, Calif., later this year.
Northshore names finalists for new leader
Three of the six semifinalist candidates to become superintendent of the Northshore School Board have ties to Snohomish and Island counties.
Local candidates include Larry Francois, superintendent of the Lakewood School District; Kris McDuffy, director of educational administration at Western Washington University and a former Lakewood superintendent; and Rick Shulte, superintendent of the Oak Harbor School District.
Other candidates are Richard Jones, superintendent of the Burlington-Edison School District; Tim Mills, superintendent of the Mesa County Valley School District in Colorado; and Michael Soltman, superintendent of the San Juan Island School District
The school board will interview each candidate in early March and, shortly after that, finalists will be invited to spend a full day in the district to meet with staff and parents. The board hopes to have the new superintendent begin work on July 1.
Northshore Superintendent Karen Forys died Sept. 17 while undergoing cancer treatment. Dolores Gibbons, who retired as superintendent of the Renton School District in June 2006, has served as interim superintendent since then.
The Northshore School District serves 20,000 students in Bothell, Kenmore and Woodinville.
Granite Falls renews superintendent search
The Granite Falls School Board has reopened its search for a new superintendent.
Earlier this month, the board passed on hiring any of its three finalist candidates to replace retiring Superintendent Joel Thaut.
It recently decided to continue its search in hopes of hiring a new leader for next fall instead of hiring a one-year interim superintendent and start a search next year.
The application deadline is March 14.
Two or three finalists will be scheduled interviews with district staff and local residents in April
“We have been getting several calls of interest,” said Kathy Grant, a school district spokeswoman.
Lake Stevens sets dates for forums on boundaries
The public is invited to forums for reviewing recommended school boundaries changes.
The suggestions are the work of the district’s boundary committee, which included parents and area residents.
Forum dates are 5:30 to 8 p.m. March 5 in the Educational Service Center conference room, 12309 22nd St. NE, 10:30 a.m. to noon March 6 in the service center conference room and 5:30 to 8 p.m. March 6 in the North Lake Middle School cafeteria, 2202 123rd Ave. NE.
The committee will present information about the process it followed and draft recommendations. There will be a question-and-answer period.
The district formed the committee to review boundary lines, student population and growth areas of the district’s elementary schools. The committee’s task is to recommend boundary adjustments that will balance elementary school student enrollments. Work began in January and committee members are currently developing boundary proposal map recommendations. The schools affected in the proposals for possible adjustments include Hillcrest, Sunnycrest, Highland, Mount Pilchuck and Skyline.
Not your everyday math night at Tulalip school
More than 150 students, moms, dads and other relatives recently participated in a Tulalip Elementary School math night.
It was like many other math nights at other schools, but with a twist.
Visitors rotated among stations, where they could do math-related activities. One station included counting and computation exercises in the Lushootseed language.
“It opens up a different area of the brain,” said Teresa Iyall, the Tulalip principal.
Students were given passports and a stamp for each station they visited on their way to earning ice cream sundaes.
The Tulalip Tribes also donated gift prizes for the evening.
And what were the prizes?
“Math games,” Iyall said.
MPHS welcomes Indonesian educators
Marysville-Pilchuck High School will play host to a delegation of Indonesian educators at 10 a.m. Thursday before the group visits with city of Marysville leaders in the afternoon.
The delegates are part of the International Visitor Program, which brings high-level professionals to the United States from all over the world to meet with their professional counterparts.
The school visit is coordinated by Ryan Hauck, who is a teacher in the school’s Pathways of Choice small learning community; the World Affairs Council; and the U.S. State Department.
The campus tour will include a discussion with students in Hauck’s sociology classroom with the conversation focused on cross-cultural education. Hauck was previously named the World Affairs Council Educator of the Year.
After the classroom visit, the delegates will meet leaders from the school district and the Tulalip Tribes. Topics include educational reform, American Indian education, and multicultural and civic education.
Lakewood sets open house for schools
The Lakewood School District plans an open house and community information night from 6 to 7:30 p.m. March 11 at Lakewood High School, 17023 11th Ave. NE, Arlington.
Events include a PTA Reflections awards ceremony at 6:30 in the commons, kindergarten registration from 6 to 7 in the high school library, a high school orientation for parents of eighth-graders at 7 in the high school theater, and an HIV and AIDS informational meeting for parents at 7 in Room 105.
What’s up at your school? Call us at 425-339-3036 or e-mail schoolfyi@heraldnet.com.
