·         Important! This affects your student’s classroom: Drivers will count the number of students riding our buses the week of October 8 through 12.  Our transportation funding from the state is based on this head count, so it is extremely important that every regular bus rider takes the bus to and from school that week. Because the state’s ridership formula does not adequately cover the full cost of transporting our students, we are already using about $2.7 million annually in local levy dollars—which could otherwise directly support classrooms—to fill the gap. We need all regular bus riders to ride the bus October 8 through 12 so our state funding does not decrease and more classroom dollars have to be diverted. Thank you for your help! Call 425-837-7010 for more information.

 

·         The Issaquah School Board will gather tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 26, at the Administration Building for a work-study session about Policy Governance at 6 p.m. and then a regular business meeting at 7 p.m. The complete agenda is online.

 

·         What’s happening with the boundary review? Administrators are gathering key data that will allow the community committee do its job when it convenes in January. The review will be comprehensive—meaning that it should ensure that students in every school across the District will not have to undergo another change for as long as possible after the new boundaries go into effect in the fall of 2009. Stay tuned in December for more information about how the committee will be formed and when the meetings will occur.

 

·         Would you like to be a substitute Education Assistant in our schools? We will work around your schedule: You can select the buildings and the days you are available. Pay per hour is in the mid-$12 range. Applications and complete job descriptions—including those for recess supervisors, crossing guards (morning and afternoon), lunchroom supervisors, special education assistants, and ELL (English Language Learners) assistants—are online at www.issaquah.wednet.edu/employment/.  Call Chris Baynes at 425-837-7027 for more information.

 

·         Echo Glen Children’s Center needs some creative folks! If you are interested in being an art docent and leading an already-prepared art lesson once a month, contact Connie Rawson, 392-4553 or crawson@comcast.net, or Linda Guard, 392-4329 or lguard@comcast.net. Echo Glen is a state-run detention center for children in Snoqualmie; the Issaquah School District provides the educational component. Because students here often come from troubled pasts, the opportunity to express themselves creatively and connect with caring adults often makes a huge—even life-changing—impact.

 

·         Congratulations to our 14 seniors who are semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship program!

 

·         Check out our new “School Snapshots” section on the District website. Fresh pictures will be added all the time. This week, Board member Connie Fletcher is shown testifying in Olympia.

 

·         Parents can review the District’s HIV/Aids curriculum for fifth- through 12^th-grade students during information sessions in early October. State law requires that any parent who wants to exempt their child from this instruction must first attend an information session.

 

·         Get out the vote: This summer, the Washington State Presidential Primary Committee selected February 19 (during our mid-winter break) as the date for next year’s primary election, replacing the previously scheduled Feb. 5 election date. Please make this important change on your ISF/ISD student-art calendar and any other calendars you use.