Message From Lake Washington School District Superintendent

Press release from the Lake Washington School District:

December 15, 2020

Dear LWSD Staff and Families:

"This will be the last Return to School Update of the 2020 calendar year. I hope our communication during the summer and fall has provided relevant information for you as staff members and families. I realize there are unanswered questions which we will address in a timely manner when we return.

Key Messages:

• Appreciation for hearing from families and response protocols during high volumes of communication.
• Communication during winter break will be responded to in January due to most staff taking time off.
• Superintendent to provide community-wide update via live broadcast on January 6 at 6:00 p.m.
• Supporting students with unique needs through in-person supports and connection.
• High school sports training to begin in January.
• The District continues to track success indicators to provide supports for students not experiencing success.

Advocacy and Communication:

Over the last few weeks there has been an increase in parent communication with specific requests related to their desire to have their child receiving in-person instruction as well as parents requesting to remain in remote learning for the duration of this school year. I greatly appreciate hearing the voices of our families as we navigate these challenges together. Please know that I read and review every email sent and respond to 99% of emails received. There are times when, due to high volume, I will respond to large groups of emails with a single response. I do this to provide as timely a response as possible while providing relevant information to the collective group that has reached out.

It is important to note that many staff will step away from work for a period of time starting next Monday. This means that communication sent over the break may not be responded to until we return in January. I have encouraged staff to step away from their responsibilities during this break, so they are refreshed when they return in January. I also want to recognize that there is critical District work that will occur during this break so there are also staff that will be diligently working to prepare for our return in January. Specifically, we will have technology staff working on a number of efforts including the data migration of our student/staff information systems and the receiving, preparing and delivering of 5,800 student laptops that will take place during the break.

Live Broadcast – LWSD’s Pathway Forward:

On Wednesday, January 6, 2021 at 6:00 p.m., I will be providing information and details about our Pathway Forward in the new year. This live update will be recorded for families that are not able to view the live broadcast. You can expect to receive information about:

1. Update on the state of the virus as it relates to our work in Lake Washington
2. Information and lessons learned from our implementation of in-person learning for students with special needs that started in early September
3. Plans and timelines for transitioning to a learning model that includes in-person/remote learning for younger learners
4. Considerations for secondary learning models

Any updates from the Governor, Public Health or OSPI will be discussed at the live broadcast on January 6.

Current Efforts to Support Unique Needs of Students:

Last week, our school administrators received information and protocols to support the evaluation of students that require in-person support due to challenges they are experiencing in learning, organization, and other specific concerns. While every student would benefit from in-person connection with an adult, we know there are students that are experiencing remote learning substantially different. Schools have started to work with specific families to schedule times for their child to connect in-person with a school staff member regarding their specific needs. This is a positive step in our efforts to support students but also to begin the transition of students, staff and families interacting together in-person. We are glad to be able to take this next step and we know we can do it while maintaining a healthy and safe environment for students and staff while on campus.

High School Sports Training:

I am pleased to announce that we will begin our high school sports training activities when we return in January. The Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) approved sports training activities to take place starting earlier this fall. Our District and School Athletic Directors have been actively working on the health and safety protocols for this training to provide a quality and safe experience for our student athletes that choose to participate. This work was completed earlier in the fall and was aligned to our District COVID-19 Safety Plan. I decided to hold on implementation for a period of time but am pleased to announce that we will move this opportunity forward in the new year. It should be noted that there are strict protocols for participation in sports training and there is no room for deviation from the requirements. Our schools and coaches are clear on these protocols and will strictly enforce them. The protocols are what allows us to implement in-person opportunities such as these.

If your child participates in high school sports, you can expect to receive information from your school’s Athletic Director regarding next steps.

Spring and 2021-22 School Year:

I have heard from a number of parents that there is a misunderstanding about Lake Washington’s decisions about Spring 2021 and the 2021-22 school year. There is information in the community that we have made decisions about student learning models for these time periods.

I will address this during the live broadcast specifically. We have not deviated from our method for considering learning models for students. We will continue to align with the Decision Tree, public health recommendations and our required health and safety protocols. There are no decisions about Spring 2021 other than consistently working to provide the appropriate learning model for our students. Regarding the 2021-22 school year, we anticipate the virus being at a place where we will be able to start the school year in-person.

Success Indicators:

I have been asked about how we are evaluating student success and failure during remote learning. This is done at many levels throughout the District.

Teaching staff. This primarily starts with our teaching staff that are working with students on a daily basis. Teachers know those students that are not succeeding, and they have methods and strategies to work with these students to move towards improvement.

Building Leaders. Principals and Associate Principals are charged with the leadership and support for student success in our schools. Building leaders have access to data tools that allow them to evaluate students experiencing varying levels of success or failure. Our building leaders implement processes and procedures across the school site to respond to students experiencing difficulty. This includes student outreach, 1:1 meetings, parent communication and developing student-specific plans.

District Leaders. Central Office Leaders are charged with the leadership of the overall district success, departmental success and collaborating to make plans/efforts that are supportive of our building efforts. Central leaders have access to data tools that allow them to evaluate system success and failure. These analyses may cause direct support to be provided to a school, level (elementary, middle or high school) or the entire system. These data analyses look at the whole as well as disaggregated to understand how students are succeeding based on specific factors. These analyses allow for targeted intervention/support.

Specific Data Elements Analyzed:

Absenteeism. Data regarding student participation in class is consistently analyzed. We know that one primary success indicator is attendance during instruction. On a positive note, we have seen an increase in student attendance over the last couple of weeks.

Time in Teams. We are able to pull and analyze the time that students are spending in Teams each week. This is correlated to our absenteeism. We have seen the trends in Teams minutes maintain a consistent level. We also know that there are specific student groups that are not participating in Teams meetings as much as their peers. This is a concern since live instruction is such a critical component for success.

Missing assignments. We consistently analyze the number of assignments that students are missing and have sent a benchmark of tracking the number of students with 10+ missing assignments. This is another indicator that allows us to target our supports. We have seen an increase in the number of students with 10+ missing assignments. This is not atypical at this time in the semester but requires a response to ensure those students do not continue this trend.

Students failing at least one class. At this point in the semester, a student failure is of concern. These students are at risk of not receiving credit for the course and have possibly not met the learning objectives. The transition to remote learning was uniquely challenging for students. Early in the semester we saw an increase in students failing at least one class. Through interventions and supports, we have seen this data point decreasing over the last few weeks. Despite this decrease, we still have a higher number of students currently failing at least one class as compared to December 2019.

In closing, it is my deepest wish that every student, family and staff member has a wonderful break and a happy holiday season. Your contributions this fall are greatly appreciated. I wish you the best."

Respectfully,

Dr. Jon Holmen
Superintendent
Lake Washington School District

This press release was produced by the Lake Washington School District. The views expressed are the author's own.