Marysville School District Archives - Page 5 of 6

Free Summer Meals for Kids

Source: Marysville School District

Marysville School District will offer Free Summer Meals for Kids (18 and under) beginning Monday, June 30th at eight

specific locations across Marysville (listed below). Adults may also participate at a cost of $1.00 for snack and $2.00 for

lunch. All children age 18 and under eat for free.

A snack and a lunch will be provided Monday through Friday beginning June 30th, running though August 22nd (no

Service on July 4th) at all of the following locations:

Location Snack Lunch

Cascade Elementary 9:30 – 10:00 am 11:30 -12:00 pm

Cedarcrest Middle School 9:30 – 10:00 am 11:30 am-12:00 pm

Liberty Elementary 9:30 – 10:00 am 11:30 -12:00 pm

Shoultes Elementary 9:30 – 10:00 am 11:30 -12:00 pm

Tulalip Boys & Girls Club 9:30 – 10:00 am 12:00-12:30 pm

Beach Street Boys & Girls Club 2:30 – 3:00 pm* 11:30 -12:00 pm *(Note: no morning snack)

Westwood Crossing Apartments 2:00 – 2:30 pm* 12:00 – 12:30 pm *(Note: no morning snack)

Cedar Grove Apartments** 2:00 – 2:30 pm* 12:00 – 12:30 pm *(Note: no morning snack)

**Tuesday and Thursdays servings only

For more information about the Summer Meals Program, contact the Food Service Department at (360) 657-0935 or call

Peggy King, (360) 653-0803, email peggy_king@msvl.k12.wa.us.

Every student has a place to succeed: MSD summit on education plans to prepare students for the local economy

Summit Participants hang their group’s discussion notes on the wall. From student needs, school improvement, and dreams of what the Marysville School District and its students should look like, the ideas were all shared, and often echoed. Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News — Summit Participants hang their group’s discussion notes on the wall. From student needs, school improvement, and dreams of what the Marysville School District and its students should look like, the ideas were all shared, and often echoed. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

The Marysville School District hosted an education summit on Saturday, March 29, at Getchell High School to secure success for Marysville schools and students. The summit is the culmination of months of planning and information gathering, bringing together educators, community members, students, families, and business leaders to map out possible futures for the Marysville School District. Speakers at the summit highlighted opportunities in the local economy as a key driver of education and success. Those opportunities should be had by all Marysville students, and the Marysville School District is working towards that reality.

“Snohomish County is first in the state in manufacturing. We are second in the technology field. There are many successful economies in the state, but what makes us different is, in Snohomish County, we build things,” said Troy McClelland, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of Snohomish County (EASC).

McClelland is a strong proponent of the STEM program in education. STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, is a curriculum focused on developing critical skills that students need to succeed in modern economies.

“There is a place for every student to succeed, if they find their passion, and if we continue to provide the competitive economy,” he added.

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring said, “We need competitive students for a competitive economy. I want Marysville kids to have those jobs, I don’t want to import and outsource. I want our kids to have those high paying jobs.”

Mayor Nehring noted the importance of education, with reform taking center stage in the local political discussion.

“We cannot afford to opt out of supporting education. It is an investment well worth the principle,” he said.

Throughout the day, groups consisting of educators, families, and business leaders discussed what they dream for the Marysville School District. Ideas ranged from helping students become passionate about education and developing a drive to pursue education beyond graduation, to changing the way education is structured. There was large discussion on the current education system, and the need to change the system for the modern age. Determining what that might look like includes an understanding of the local communities and economies.

“It takes all of us together, working for our students’ future,” said Mel Sheldon Jr., Chairman of the Tulalip Tribes.

As leaders in education, business, and industry come together with leaders in the community, the district hopes to bring balance between the learning needs of students and the skills they will need to succeed as they choose careers, which is a manifestation of the district’s mission of 100% graduation, on time, and college or career ready.

Andrew Gobin is a reporter with the See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Phone: (360) 716.4188

Marysville schools ‘Dream Big For Kids’ March 29

MARYSVILLE — The Marysville School District will be presenting its summit on education, “Dream Big for Kids! Imagine Where We Can Go Together,” from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, in the commons and gymnasium of the Marysville Getchell High School campus.

In February of 2013, the Marysville School District Board of Directors began an initiative to increase community involvement, by including parents, students, business and civic leaders, and other community members in conversations to improve the educational opportunities for Marysville students.

The Marysville School Board began the process with a series of community forums, to help identify the successes of the Marysville School District and the areas where it needed to improve. The school district then utilized this information to focus on what it needed from a new superintendent, to help lead the district to its next levels of success.

This led to the hiring of Dr. Becky Berg as superintendent, who has since done significant community outreach work, including meetings with parents, staff and community members, as well as a series of “Coffee and Conversations” with families in the community. While the district has learned much from this process, more insights are needed, which is where “Dream Big for Kids” comes in.

Hundreds of Marysville and Tulalip community members are expected to join business leaders, parents, students and school district staff at this educational summit, to help envision the future of the Marysville School District and its children.

This is a no-cost event, but space is limited, so it’s recommended that you reserve your seat at a table ASAP.

To register, or for more information, call the Marysville School District at 360-653-7058, or visit its website at www.msvl.k12.wa.us.

Boards of Marysville School District, Tulalip Tribes meet

Tulalip Tribal Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. and Vice Chair Deborah Parker discuss what their community can do to aid the Marysville School District’s mission on Feb. 24.— image credit: Kirk Boxleitner — Tulalip Tribal Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. and Vice Chair Deborah Parker discuss what their community can do to aid the Marysville School District’s mission on Feb. 24.
— image credit: Kirk Boxleitner

By Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe

TULALIP — Shoring up the struggling students of the Marysville School District was a recurring theme among the many and varied subjects discussed during the Monday, Feb. 24, joint meeting of the respective boards of directors of the Marysville School District and the Tulalip Tribes.

Marysville School Board Vice President Chris Nation touted incoming interim special education services directors Dave Gow and Dr. Bob Gose as experienced professionals who have successfully turned around other school districts’ special education programs.

“I don’t know how much they’ll be able to fix in six months, but they can develop the department so that pieces will be in place for our new permanent directors,” Nation said.

“We’re also elevating those positions to executive directors, so they’ll be part of the district’s cabinet,” MSD Superintendent Dr. Becky Berg said.

“Our concern is, what can we be doing to offer more services to these students?” Tulalip Tribal Board Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. asked.

“The systems we had in place were not making effective use of all of our partnerships,” Nation said.

Berg’s coffees with community members were cited by members of both boards as a successful venue for allowing parents to discuss their concerns in a more informal setting.

MSD Assistant Superintendent Ray Houser followed this conversation by reporting that Quil Ceda/Tulalip Elementary has been designated as a Required Action District by the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

“As hard as those students have worked, because of where they began, they’re still not at standard,” said Houser, who pointed out the silver lining of continued resources for the school, whose school improvement grants are set to wrap up. “We’re moving from federal to state money.”

Houser and Berg reassured those in attendance that the school staff who guided the students through such significant growth in recent years would not be the subject of turnovers.

“This allows us to build on our successes,” Berg said of the RAD designation.

Anthony Craig and Kristin DeWitte, co-principals of Quil Ceda/Tulalip Elementary, identified the merged school’s three focus points as academics, behavior and cultural heritage.

“A lot of schools that were recipients of those improvement grants came up with strategies to bump up their scores in the short term, and we could have done the same,” Craig said. “The problem would have been that we wouldn’t have had any real reforms after the money went away in three years.”

“What role can the parents play in all of this?” Sheldon asked.

“We’re looking at a lot more family engagement,” Craig said. “A lot of our parent/teacher conferences have 100 percent attendance now. That’s what it means to own a school. We want our students to be able to tell their parents about their own positive experiences at school, and about how someone believes in them.”

Dream Big for Kids, March 29

Dream Big for Kids

Please save Saturday, March 29, 2014 for a very important event!

Join hundreds of Marysville community members, business leaders, parents, students and school district staff in an educational summit to help design the future for our district and our kids. We need your ideas, your energy, and your voice.

Please invest one Saturday in March to Dream Big for Kids! For more details, call 360-653-0800 or email superintendents_office@msvl.k12.wa.us.

Voters have their say on local school levies, bond

Source: Marysville Globe

Snohomish County Elections has released the preliminary results for the Feb. 11 Special Election.

Marysville School District Proposition 1, the replacement Educational Programs Maintenance and Operations Levy has received 4,253 “Yes” votes (54.33 percent) and 3,575 “No” votes (45.67 percent).

Marysville School District Proposition 2, the new Technology Levy, has received 4,370 “Yes” votes (55.80 percent) and 3,462 “No” votes (44.20 percent).

Lakewood School District Proposition 1, the bond to renovate Lakewood High School, has received 1,208 “Approved” votes (57.28 percent) and 901 “Rejected” votes (42.72 percent).

Ballots must be returned by Feb. 11

Source: Marysville Globe

Local voters still have time to fill out and return their ballots for the Feb. 11 Special Election.

Voters in the Marysville School District are being asked to vote on two levies.

Proposition 1 is a replacement Educational Programs Maintenance and Operations Levy and Proposition 2 is a new Technology Levy.

Voters in the Lakewood School District are being asked to vote on Proposition 1, a bond to renovate Lakewood High School.

Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by Feb. 11. Ballots can also be dropped off at ballot drop boxes. Drop boxes are available until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Feb. 11.

Ballot drop boxes are located in Arlington at 135 N. Washington Ave. (near the library), and in Marysville at 1015 State St. (behind the Municipal Court).

For more information, go to the Shonomish County Elections website at www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Auditor/Divisions/Elections_Voting.

No More Reform! Time for teachers

Becky Berg opens a meeting between Marysville School District staff and State Legislators.

Marysville School District Superintendent meets with teachers, staff, and legislators

Article and photo by Andrew Gobin

Marysville – The structure of the school day may be changing. There is a discussion at the capitol in which Washington State Legislators are considering lengthening the school day and adding 80 hours to the 1000-hour yearly quota class instruction time. Dr. Becky Berg, superintendent for the Marysville School District (MSD), invited legislators, community leaders, administrative staff, and members of the teaching faculty to come together on January 6^th to discuss the needs of the schools, specifically addressing the 6-hour day and 1080, reforms to the school day that are currently being discussed in Washington State. The meeting also emphasized the need to pass the levy this year.

The 6-hour day and 1080 discussion, as it is called, would lengthen the school day to include 6 hours of instruction time, as opposed to the 5.5 required now, and would add another 80 hours a year to the time teachers and students are required to spend in the classroom together. Consequently, the proposed changes do away with early release days and teacher workshops.

“We (teachers) rely on early release days to come up with time for collaboration and professional development. Enough with reform, if change needs to happen it needs be on a local level. People at the capitol don’t have the answers. People in D.C. don’t know what we need,” said Arden Watson, president of the Marysville Education Association.

Getchell High School Principal Shawn Stevenson agreed, “When you ask teachers what they need, more than anything they need time. Time to be proficient in their job, time to develop a teaching plan, and time to adjust and rework that plan so that students can succeed.”

Marysville Getchell High School Principal Shawn Stevenson explains the teachers' need for time outside of the classroom. — Marysville Getchell High School Principal Shawn Stevenson explains the teachers’ need for time outside of the classroom.

Jodi Runyon, executive assistant to the MSD Superintendent, echoed, “With funding from the SIG grants, Quil Ceda and Tulalip elementary staff had the resources and freedom to redesign their schools. They were able to create planning time throughout the school day. Now they have enormous student success, which has recently been recognized on a national level. The only question now is where do we find the funding as the SIG grant has come to an end.”

The SIG grant is a three-year federal funding program for schools in need, which culminated this last November with a visit for the President of the National Education Association.

In addition to time for teacher planning and development, the levy was strongly emphasized as a crucial component for the MSD. For example, the technology aspect of the levy will help students and teachers access a state of the art fiber-optic network that is already in place district wide. The problem is there are no points of access. The infrastructure is there, yet the classrooms are not equipped to engage with the network. Currently, it is compared to a freeway with no on ramp. No one has access.

“It goes beyond the school day. At sporting events and after school hours, our Wi-Fi will be open to those at the school. Free Wi-Fi for parents and students, filtered of course, so to eliminate problems of access at home,” said Berg.

Dean Ledford called the levy “paramount to the success of teachers and students.”

The legislators and leaders that attended included Washington State Representatives Mike Sells and Hans Dunshee, Snohomish County Executive and former Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick, Senator John McCoy, 189 Educational Service District Superintendent Jerry Jenkins, former Mayor of Marysville Dennis Kendall and current Mayor Jon Nehring. They all offered support for what the teachers and staff of the MSD are trying to do, sharing similar concerns about the 6-hour day and 1080 discussion.

Officials from the Marysville School District hold break out sessions working to improve community schools

Dr. Becky Berg leads a discussion on Marysville schools.
*Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

by Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

TULALIP − Coming to the MarysvilleSchool District, Dr. Becky Berg aimed to “hit the ground running,” according to the Marysville Globe. True to her word, Berg wastes no time when it comes to improving community schools. On November 14^th, she and other district officials held a community meeting at the TulalipAdministrationBuilding, the first in a series of meetings, in order to identify concerns and provide information about this year’s levy.

Dr. Becky Berg opens the community meeting November 14th
*Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

“We want to hear from you all,” Berg said. “What are the concerns you have about your schools? What are some positive things or what would you like to see continued?”

Two breakout sessions, facilitated by Berg and assistant superintendent Ray Houser, were a forum where the community spoke on a personal level with district officials, discussing their past experiences attending Marysville schools or having children attend Marysville schools, what works in the district, changes that they’ve seen, improvements that need to be made, and programs they’d like to see developed. One major issue raised by parents and teachers at the meeting was the drastic educational gap in the classroom.

“We have high school math classes with students meeting and exceeding their level, mixed with students that are stuck at a 5^th grade level,” said heritage principal Shelly Lacey.

Other topics discussed were programs that have been cut, including evening transportation after extra curricular activities like sports, band, clubs, etc., and problems with the schools’ environment such as bullying, apathetic staff, and teachers uninterested in whether or not students learned.

“We don’t feel welcome. Our kids feel unwelcome at school, and we as parents feel that we can’t approach the teachers,” said Misty Napeahi. She has children in school now, as well as graduates of the MarysvilleSchool District.

Many of these issues were addressed in the levy presentation that followed the discussions, which highlighted specific areas that need improvement. Line items included in the levy are programs for high achieving students, students needing to be brought up to grade level, transportation, teachers and aides, support staff (nurses, counselors, etc.), staff training and development, extra curricular activities, and upgrading district technology, each addressing various academic needs. Each of these items discussed, as well as dollar allocations, emphasized the levy as the means to helping every student to succeed. The support staff and staff development portions are crucial to changing the environment of Marysville schools, which is a constant concern at Tulalip.

Upgrading technology and accessibility may be the most crucial for academic success at the current time.

Jim Baker presented the proposed 2014 Levy, which will be on February ballots
*Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

“We spent all the time, money, and effort to put in the fiber-optic network we have now, yet it remains inaccessible because of a lack of hardware,” said Jim Baker, the district’s executive director of finance. “With the proper tools and training, we hope to improve student performance in the classroom, as well as the effectiveness of the teachers.”

District officials stressed the need for the levy to pass in order to provide better resources in the classroom.

“As it stands, there is more advanced technology and capable users at McDonald’s than there is in our schools,” noted Berg.

This levy truly is all encompassing, addressing academic, structural, and environmental needs. If passed, the levy stands to increase funding for these programs by $85 million over the next four years. The issues discussed at this and other community meetings will be deciding factors in how the money is spent, specifically with regards to staff development. The next community meeting and levy presentation is slated for December 4^th of this year, 6:00 pm at the district office. More information is available on the district website, or you may call the district office at (360) 653-7058.

Andrew Gobin: 360-716-4188; agobin@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Lawmakers fund full-day kindergarten for every district in state

By Jerry Cornfield, The Herald

OLYMPIA — Nearly 18,000 more kindergartners will be attending school all day this fall on the state’s dime but none of them will be enrolled in Mukilteo School District.

Lawmakers’ decision to put $90 million more in the state budget for all-day kindergarten will benefit students at 269 elementary schools in Washington including several in Snohomish County.

Funds will be available for students at four campuses each in Everett and Marysville school districts, according to a list released Monday by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Also on the list are three schools in the Edmonds district and one campus apiece in the Sultan, Monroe, Darrington, Skykomish, and Oak Harbor districts.

Monday’s announcement by the state is good news for districts like Everett and Edmonds, which had been beefing up their preschool programs.

“The full-day kindergarten funding is another critical part of our efforts to get kids off to a good, solid start,” said Mary Waggoner, director of communications for Everett schools.

The Mukilteo School District stood alone Monday by not accepting $1.6 million to serve a projected 653 incoming kindergarten students, because it doesn’t have classroom space on the five elementary campuses where they would enroll.

While 33 other districts did turn down state money, none came close to rejecting the sum of money or affecting the number of students as Mukilteo.

“It is frustrating. It is not as if we don’t want the money,” district spokesman Andy Muntz said. “The problem is you need more classrooms and we simply don’t have them.”

Washington lawmakers set out in 2006 to fund all-day kindergarten in every public school district by the fall of 2017.

Lacking money to do it in one full swing, they started by aiding schools with the highest percentage of students living in poverty based on the number enrolled in the federal Free and Reduced Lunch program.

Last year, Washington had 80,258 kindergartners in its public schools. Of those, the state paid for a full day of instruction for 17,603 students and a half-day for 42,367.

Another 20,288 students attended all-day kindergarten in which half came from the state and the rest from a district or private tuition.

This year, lawmakers included the $90 million for expanding all-day kindergarten programs in the additional $1 billion they steered into basic education.

As a result, the number of students eligible for state-funded all-day instruction will grow by 17,817 to 35,420.

But none of those will be in the Mukilteo School District where 1,138 kindergartners attended last year, Muntz said. The vast majority was in half-day programs and the rest in the combination of state and non-state funded instruction.

The district’s problem is simple math.

Today, two half-day kindergarten classes can share one classroom. If both became full-day, another classroom would be needed. The district doesn’t have any and now relies on portables to handle overcrowded campuses.

Mukilteo school leaders anticipated a day like this might come. For seven years they’ve wrestled with the vexing challenges of increasing enrollment and an electorate unwilling to approve financing to build facilities including a new elementary school.

The school board put bond measures on the ballot once in 2006 and twice in 2008, all without success. Each measure had support of a majority of voters but none received the 60 percent required for passage. In the past five years, enrollment has risen by roughly 550 students.

“Our elementary schools are already overcrowded and one of the unfortunate consequences of overcrowding is that we simply don’t have the additional classrooms available to make full-day kindergarten happen,” Mukilteo School District Superintendent Marci Larsen said in a statement. “Our school board is currently considering options that could result in a bond proposal that would fund the construction of more elementary space.”

Muntz said voters could see the proposal next February.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Newly funded schools include:
Darrington Elementary (Darrington School District); College Place, Chase Lake, Spruce (Edmonds School District); Madison, Emerson, Lowell, Jackson (Everett School District); Liberty, Quil Ceda, Shoultes, Marshall (Marysville School District); Frank Wagner (Monroe School Disctrict); Olympic View (Oak Harbor School District); Gold Bar (Sultan School District)