Back to School!

 Back to School is part of Back to Normal

We hope that you have had a restful and fun summer and that you and your children are ready for the excitement of the first day of school. We are so excited to welcome students and staff back to school for in-person learning beginning on August 31! We have been working to prepare the buildings for the arrival of students and staff including building a new high school. We have had a great Summer to Remember program for grades 1-8 as well as numerous activities for students at the high school. This should be a springboard for students to have a great year.

Here are some things to look forward to:

• Seeing your friends!
• Meeting a new teacher!
• Seeing favorite teachers and staff!
• Playing sports and being involved in activities.
• Learning new things.
• Meeting new friends.
• New Counselors and Social Interventionists: The pandemic took a toll on children and families last year. Not being able to be with friends, smaller groups, reduced activities and online instruction all created a situation where the mental health and well-being of everyone was impacted. Thanks to federal funding, we are able to increase the number of staff who are tasked with specifically addressing these impacts. Our counselors will be working with children who are struggling emotionally. Our interventionists will be working with families and students to overcome obstacles to returning to school. All will be working to teach resilience and emotional regulation to everyone. 
• New Assistant Principal: Brennan Bailey will become an Assistant Principal and will work at TES, TMS and THS to assist with students with special needs, supervision, and to support principals. Brennan has been an elementary teacher with the district and recently completed his administrator credentials. He has a rich background in education and is a tremendous addition to our admin team.
• New teachers: we have filled nearly all of our open positions with some really strong and dynamic teachers. You'll have an opportunity to meet them on August 26 when we host "Meet the Teacher Night" at each school. 
• We will have in-person instruction for all students Monday through Friday.
• We will be outdoors for recess and socializing without masks.
• We will have regular athletic schedules and programming.
• We will have regular extra-curricular activities.
• We will be working with families to overcome barriers to returning to school.
• We will be rebuilding the programs and practices that were left behind during the pandemic.

School Schedules:

Meet the Teacher Night is scheduled for August 26. This is an annual opportunity for children and parents to meet the teachers that will be working with them through the year. We stagger schedules to accommodate families who have children in multiple schools.

TES 5:30-6:30  
TMS 6:00-7:00 
THS 6:30-7:30 

School Day Schedules:

TES: 8-230

THS: 9-330

TMS: 910-340 (Please note that TMS begins AFTER THS)

ACT days will return this year. These are 2-hour late starts. Additional special schedules will be available from your school. Go to our website for more information

School Calendar: Click here

Controversies:

I've had several phone calls about controversies that have surfaced during the summer. Here is how we are addressing some of those:

Masks: Governor Inslee through his emergency powers is requiring K-12 staff and students to wear masks while indoors when not eating or drinking. Toledo School District Board of Directors and myself have no legal authority to ignore that order. To do so would put our apportionment funding (85% of the budget) in jeopardy and our insurance carrier has indicated they will not defend or pay claims related to COVID litigation against the district. Students and staff will be required to comply with this requirement (unless exempted by medical provider). Masks are not required outdoors. In addition, students and staff are to maintain a 3' distance whenever possible. In addition, masked students who have been 3' distant and masked will not be considered close contacts for those who test positive for COVID and will not be required to quarantine. Finally, vaccinated staff and students will not be required to quarantine unless showing symptoms of COVID.

We are still sorting through the new directives from  the Department of Health and Labor and Industries. I will report more as we learn it. The best way to get rid of the mask requirement is to get vaccinated. While a small number of vaccinated people are having breakthrough infections, very few of them are being hospitalized or dying. Nearly all of those who are having catastrophic outcomes are unvaccinated. (AP, 6/29/21) 

We are planning a community-wide vaccination clinic on October 2. It is our hope that more people will be eligible for the vaccine and that the FDA will have fully approved the vaccines by then.

Mascot: We are still working with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe to determine whether they have an interest in us continuing to call ourselves the Indians. The Attorney General's office declined to provide an opinion on whether the exception in the law applies to Toledo. If we rebrand, the favored mascot is the "Riverhawks".

Sexual Health Education: Beginning this school year, we will be required to provide instruction in all grades on topics related to sexual health and social emotional learning. Our team has been meeting over the past few months to identify a curriculum and lessons that we think are appropriate and consistent with our community's values. I am working on a packet of those lessons that I will post to our website. I will also host a parent advisory group to get feedback on our choices. I will take parent input and our recommendation to the board for adoption. Three things are important for folks to remember: 1. the board disagrees with this law and actively lobbied against its  adoption, so we are looking at meeting the letter of the law, but no more. 2. Parents will be able to opt their children out of this instruction without concern that their children will be stigmatized. 3. Regardless of what you've read on social media or heard on radio or TV, we will not teach sexually explicit information to elementary children.

Critical Race Theory: Toledo School District has not and will not be teaching this. We will be teaching the full range of the history of the United States. We will also be insisting that everyone belongs in our schools and community and will exclude no child based on who they are. We want everyone to be able to show up as themselves and be confident that they belong and are supported. Our board advocates for equity in our schools. This forms the backbone of our strategic plan for the next five years.

I plan to continue to update this blog weekly with information about school operations as I did throughout the 2020-21 school year. 2021-22 is going to be a great year. You won't want to miss it!