Education Insider

Welcome to the district's bi-monthly newsletter! At the bottom of this newsletter, you'll find a link to the Community Bulletin Board.

The Skyward Family Access "Student Information Update" is back open! If you didn't take the opportunity to complete it in the fall, we ask that you please do so now during this "second-chance" open period. In addition to basic demographic information, this is where important health, housing & attendance forms are gathered in order to better serve the students in our district. Please login to your Skyward Family Access account and select the Annual Student Information Update alert link !. (If you don't see the ! in your account, you don't need to take action.)

*Accounts that aren't updated run the risk of causing various errors related to your student's enrollment.*

Questions? Please contact your student(s) school office: http://www.asd103.org/contact_us

The resources below may help you have conversations with your children about current events, such as the war in Ukraine.

Tough Topics for Military Kids https://www.k12.wa.us/student-success/access-opportunity-education/military-kids/tough-topics-military-kids

Signs of Stress In Children After A Disaster * Military OneSource<https://www.militaryonesource.mil/family-relationships/family-life/preparing-your-family-for-emergencies/recognizing-the-signs-of-stress-in-children-after-a-disaster/>

Talking to Your Children about Current Events | https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/total-health/health-topics/talking-to-children-about-current-events>

Talking to Children about Current Events - Resolve https://www.kcresolve.com/blog/talking-to-children-about-current-events (from National Child Traumatic Stress Network)

Tips for Teens Dealing with a Family Member's Deployment (militaryonesource.mil)<https://www.militaryonesource.mil/family-relationships/parenting-and-children/parenting-through-deployment/15-tips-for-helping-your-teenager-deal-with-deployment/>

Anacortes High School Performing Arts Department, Anacortes Community Theater, and Fidalgo Dance Works are pleased to invite you to Disney's High School Musical, the first live theater production in Anacortes in two long years. This is an historic collaboration in celebration of our community's special support of the arts. We have over 50 students involved and lots of community members helping out. Please take a break from the stress and routine of life and sit and enjoy some live music/theater.

High School Musical runs March 10-13 and 17-20. All shows start at 7:00 except for the Sunday matinees which begin at 2:00. Adult tickets are $17 and student tickets (5+) are $7:00. Tickets are being sold on the Anacortes Community Theatre website (https://acttheatre.com/), or at the door. The ticket window will open 30 minutes before the show. Masks will be required for the audience during all shows, until the mandate is lifted on March 12.

Join us in celebrating Women's History Month throughout March! Check out the resources below:

• https://womenshistorymonth.gov/
• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/why-the-us-celebrates-womens-history-month-every-march
• https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/womens-history-month/womens-history-month-history/

Thanks to a partnership with the Anacortes Public Library (APL), all Anacortes School District students and staff have access to the public library and their services. To make it as easy as possible for students to use the library, previous student library accounts have been changed to match ASD student ID numbers. Since elementary students do not have student ID cards from school, library cards have been passed out this week during parent-teacher conferences along with informational bookmarks.

School library staff will be collaborating with APL staff during the month of March to provide information about all the services available with an APL card. We hope students are able to take advantage of this exciting partnership and visit the Anacortes Public Library soon. For more information and to see virtual library tours, see here for elementary students or middle school/high school students.

The Anacortes School District provides a variety of services for the most highly capable students in grades K-12. Students eligible for highly capable services are those who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced academic levels when compared with others of their age, experiences, or environments. Outstanding abilities are seen with students' general intellectual aptitude, specific academic ability, or creative thinking productivities within a specific domain. Students who are eligible for highly capable services typically rank in the top one to five percent of students as measured on standardized aptitude and achievement assessments.

During the month of March, the Anacortes School District will be conducting universal screening for all second-grade and fifth-grade students. Those showing potential for eligibility will be further assessed in April after communication with families/caregivers.

A Spring highly capable referral window will also be open to all ASD children from March 21-April 1. Referrals can be made by any adult familiar with the child using the High Capable Referral Form. (open on March 21) All students referred will be assessed in April.

A multidisciplinary selection committee meets to select eligible students for highly capable services. The spring meeting will take place in May, and communication about decisions will be sent to families/caregivers by the beginning of June.

If you would like more information about Highly Capable services in the Anacortes School District, you can join an informational parent Zoom meeting on Tuesday, March 22nd from 6:00-7:00 or contact Angie Miller, Director of Teaching and Learning, at amiller@asd103.org or 360-503-1224.

The Inclusive Services department will be conducting Community Engagement Groups beginning in April. The goal of this committee is to share experiences, review current programs, identify hopes of stakeholders, and examine state results indicators. The outcome of these meetings will identify areas of growth and develop partnerships to help all students find successful learning opportunities.

Questions? Contact Director of Inclusive Services, Shannon Gilbert, sgilbert@asd103.org or (360) 503-1216

Anacortes School District has implemented this National, Evidence-Based, Suicide Prevention program for many years to all Middle and High School Students beginning the end of January and continuing through February of this year. We have chosen the curriculum called Signs of Suicide that is created through Screening For Mental Health, Inc.

The SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention Program is the only youth suicide prevention program that has demonstrated an improvement in students' knowledge and adaptive attitudes about suicide risk and depression, as well as a reduction in actual suicide attempts. SOS is a universal, school-based depression awareness and suicide prevention program designed for middle-school and high-school students.

Both the middle and high school programs provide age-appropriate materials for students. There are also materials for staff, families, and community members that outline the program objectives and prevention efforts. As mentioned in the last newsletter, a critical element of ths program was complete with all middle and high school students. Prior to implementing the program with students, there was a parent and community information session on January 13th, 2022. This will be facilitated by an outside trainer. For more information please check out the district website. If you are concerned about a student please reach out to the school principal or counselor.

Governor Inslee recently announced that the state’s indoor mask mandate will now be lifted beginning March 12, 2022, earlier than originally announced. This includes inside our schools and on our school buses. The state’s talking points can be found here.

Once the statewide mask requirement lifts, barring a new requirement from our local health department, masks will become optional in our school buildings. Masks remain a requirement for all students, staff, volunteers, and visitors inside our schools and on school buses through March 11.

After the state’s mandate is lifted, staff and students will have the choice to wear a mask at school.

Thank you for your continued support and patience throughout the pandemic.

To learn more about the district’s Test To Stay program check out the Test To Stay website. Our Test to Stay program has been operating since the end of January. We have tested more than 70 students across the district. The tests allowed these students to stay in and attend school safely with minimal to no disruption to their families' lives. The alternative, if the students did not test, would have been quarantining at home which would have kept them out of the classroom.

We began testing High School students and have expanded the program district-wide. Thanks to the help of our amazing volunteers Carrie Worra, Rick Wallace, Meredith Mcilmoyle, Leslie Morey, and Kristen Heyne. In order to continue to offer testing at the High School, as well as at other school sites, we still need more volunteers. While DOH requirements may change we expect testing to still be a critical prevention and mitigation tool throughout the rest of the school year.

If you are interested in volunteering reach out to the COVID Coordinator, Dianne Szerlong. And, thank you to those who have recently expressed an interest in volunteering. We can't do it without your help.

Dianne Szerlong, 360-03-1217, dszerlong@asd103.org

Does your student need a helping hand with technology? If so, we’ve moved our Tech Support team to each school so that you can connect with them when you next visit. More information about us and our work can be found at https://sites.google.com/asd103.org/tech-handbook/home/our-team. For urgent issues, continue to use our hotline at (360) 503-1220. When leaving a message, be sure to leave your name, your student’s name, and a number where you can be reached. We’ll be sure to get back to you within one school day.

We continue to recruit for paras, subs in all positions, and coaches. Please refer to our HR page for openings: https://anacortesjobs.hrmplus.net/JobOpenings.aspx

We anticipate opening our buildings and programs to more volunteers this spring. If you haven't yet been cleared as a volunteer for this school year, please start the process now: http://www.asd103.org/for_community/volunteer_services

Please contact either Laura Dennis at 360-503-1223, or Shelby VanderKooy at 360-503-1203 in Human Resources with any additional questions, or concerns.

• March 11: No School (Staff Professional Development)
• March 17: School Board Meeting

An updated school calendar is on our website. May 31, which was reserved for a snow day, will now be a regular school day.

Hard to believe, but the 2022-23 school year is right around the corner! Please note that the 2022-23 school year will begin before Labor Day - on Sept 1, 2022.

Click the link below to find items submitted for our community bulletin board: