Happy (almost) New Year!

We had a windy welcome to winter break. Hopefully you and your family remained safe, warm, and cheerful during the storm and extended power outages.

School was cancelled on Friday, Dec. 15, because power outages and blocked roadways affected every school throughout the District. Thanks to hard-working power crews, electricity was restored to the last dark building-the central administration building in downtown Issaquah-by last Saturday. In the interim, the District's computer servers, e-mail system, and telephones were down. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Trees hit portable classrooms at Beaver Lake Middle School and caused minor damage. Debris and branches cluttered other school campuses. Some heating systems did not fire up properly once power was restored. Our maintenance and facility teams have reacted quickly, and every school is ready for students to return on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

In the coming weeks, we will decide when to make up the latest missed school day. We will look at all possibilities, including adding the day during second winter break. We must renegotiate the school calendar with the teachers union, however, if we do anything except make up the day at the end of the school year. More information will be available soon.

Enjoy the remaining days of break and welcome 2007 in style! We are excited to see students again next Tuesday.