By Brady Smith

Lopez School Superintendent

Before I began as superintendent almost two years ago, the conversations I had with community members and alumni about the school surfaced three areas of focus: academic rigor, college advising and international travel.

Though Lopez Island School graduates have consistently been accepted to top-tier colleges, there is a perception that we are not offering an academic program as rigorous as those of other local and regional options and that we could provide stronger, more personalized post-graduate college advising. And when I would ask alumni about their most memorable experience while at the Lopez Island School, almost every one of them highlighted their trip to Quebec or Greece or Nicaragua or France.

While so much of the community conversation about the school district has centered around our financial challenges, I am excited to share great progress we have made in these areas and more below!

School board elections

I’m pleased to share that new board members will be sworn in this month. Welcome to Matthew Bullock and Andrew Nichols, and a welcome back to Matt Kredell, who served in an appointed role and now will continue for a full term as an elected board member. Current Board Chair Sarah Murphy submitted her resignation, so we posted the vacancy, conducted interviews and identified Kristi DePaul to be appointed for a January start to serve the remainder of Sarah’s term. These new School Board members join us at a time when the school district is facing significant budgetary challenges, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with this new school board on solutions!

Lopez Parks & Rec District

Lopez voters approved the formation of the Lopez Parks & Rec district, but the levy did not get the 60% supermajority necessary. The vision for Lopez Rec included funding school sports, and now the path forward will be determined by the elected commissioners with community input. The silver lining of the November election is that even with a passionately divided electorate, support for the Lopez Island School is strong throughout our community! Thank you.

Accreditation

In case you didn’t hear, Principal Dr. Martha Martin successfully navigated a rigorous state accreditation process, culminating in a presentation in Olympia, and the Lopez Island High School’s accreditation has been renewed for six more years. Martha and our secondary teachers have been working hard to ensure all students receive an education that exceeds the state bar for accreditation. Congratulations, Martha and teachers!

Advanced Placement exam fees and LIEF

The Lopez Island Education Foundation has been fundraising to address our big picture funding challenges, but they also remain committed to supporting the teacher grants and other smaller funding pieces that they have contributed to in the past. One of those smaller pieces is that LIEF has agreed to subsidize Advanced Placement test registration fees for our in-person AP classes (AP Pre-Calc, AP Art and AP Lit) and our online AP classes (AP U.S. History, AP Comp Sci, AP Calculus AB, AP Psych), ensuring access to those rigorous exams for any interested students.

Lopez Island College Advising Corps

Lopez Island School has identified a dynamic group of higher education advisors and administrators who are excited to provide individualized college counseling to interested 11th and 12th graders. Advisors would each work with one or two Lopez Island students to clarify their college interests, identify “safety,” “target” and “reach” schools, complete effective personal essays and resumes, strategically gather letters of recommendation, discuss Early Admission and other admission options and help manage the workload and timeline to ensure the Common App and any additional application components are completed.

Lopez School Counselor Robb Ellis would continue to manage each student’s High School and Beyond Plan and support all students and families in making post-graduate plans, including providing advising support and visits to local and regional colleges and trade schools.

For students who have a strong commitment to applying to four-year colleges, advisors from the Lopez Island School College Advising Corps will work intensively on developing an individualized plan and offer targeted guidance throughout the process.

Interested students would have to commit to attending regular Zoom advising sessions throughout the college application process. Parents would have to sign permission forms to allow advisors to meet with and work individually with their student. School Counselor Robb Ellis, Principal Dr. Martha Martin and I will collaboratively identify student-advisor matches in the spring of 11th grade.

Student travel to Nicaragua

Through generous support from In-STEP, a Lopez Island nonprofit dedicated to supporting teacher-led international student travel, and using existing Spanish Club funds, I am excited to be chaperoning seven students on a spring break trip to Nicaragua this coming April at no cost to the school. A partner organization, the Center for Development of Central America, has hosted Lopez student groups previously and is excited to rekindle the relationship. It comes with a commitment to attending pre-trip meetings to learn about Nicaraguan history and culture, to engaging in service to the community in Nicaragua and to participating in community info sessions and presentations after returning. We will ask for a family contribution to the trip but all accepted students, regardless of ability to contribute, will have a fully funded trip. My hope is that this is the beginning of a new era of teacher-led international trips for our amazing students!

Christmas Ship Dec. 13 at 4:30 p.m.

Save the date! LISD, in collaboration with the Lopez Children’s Center, is once again hosting the Christmas Ship on Saturday, Dec. 13. Santa, Mrs. Clause and a boat full of elves and pirates are expected to dock at Odlin Park around 4:30 p.m. Children and their families will get a chance to meet Santa and enjoy hot cocoa and cookies.

Free/Reduced Lunch Forms still needed!

Any families who have not yet submitted their Free/Reduced Lunch Form can still do so, and it will greatly benefit the school budget, grants and purchasing options, and is used by some scholarships to determine financial eligibility. Please help the school by submitting your Free/Reduced Lunch Form if you haven’t already!

I wish you a holiday season full of gratitude and warmth.

Go, Lobos!