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HOCKINSON PATRON
HOCKINSON SCHOOL DISTRICT
17912 NE 159th Street Brush Prairie, WA 98606
Phone: 360-448-6400 Fax: 360-448-6409
www.hocksd.org
News and Information From Your Schools
"Preparing All Students for Lifelong Success"
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DAVE OLSON, CHAIR (360) 891-9765
KATHERINE DAVIS, VICE CHAIR (360) 624-4116
GREG GOSPE (360) 882-9920
STEVE NYLUND (360) 896-4161
KATHY NORDBERG (360) 892-9279
Hockinson School District
News and Information from your schools
Volume 3, Issue 3
Spring 2014
NON-PROFIT PERMIT #8
U.S. POSTAGE PAID BRUSH PRAIRIE, WA
98606
DATES TO REMEMBER
April
1—4 K-12 Conferences; 3-
hour early release
7—11 Spring Break
14—Board Work Session,
6:00 PM, DO Board Room
28—Regular Board Meeting,
6:00 PM, DO Board Room
May
1—Boundary applications
accepted
8—Kindergarten Roundup
12—Board Work Session,
6:00 PM, DO Board Room
26—Memorial Day—No
classes, District Office closed
27—Regular Board Meeting,
6:00 PM, DO Board Room
1
Dear Hockinson Community,
Growth is coming to HSD!
There are two subdivisions planned within the boundaries of our district. One is ready to begin building new homes. That project is planned to be constructed in two phases and will add about 180 homes when completed.
The second project could s&ll take a few years un&l fully completed. It has the poten&al to add 400 more homes to our district.
As we started to prepare for this growth, we have done a review and survey of our facili&es, as required by the state. What we found did not surprise us and we expect that it will not surprise you, either.
Here are some of the things we have reviewed in our buildings:
Elementary School:
The parking lot could use a be.er traffic-flow plan, especially during drop-off and pick-up &mes.
Most of our buildings were designed during a different &me than the one we currently live in. The layout of this school doesn’t afford us the security features that we would like to have to ensure the safety of our students.
We currently have a warming facility in this building and would make be.er use of an actual kitchen.
We are s&ll studying our growth poten&al and classroom capacity.
Middle School:
This school was built in three different phases as the district grew. The main building, which currently houses the office, commons, library and classrooms, was constructed in 1953; the west classrooms were added in 1963 and renovated in 1989. It is our oldest building and is rapidly approaching the end of its useful life, and has failing systems that will result in escala&ng opera&ons and maintenance costs.
The recommenda&on to the district was to replace or completely renovate this building within the next 3-5 years. We were not surprised with the
detailed list of deficiencies and lack of compliance with current codes in this 61 year-old building.
The outside classrooms, the gymnasium and the art/shop areas are in fairly good condi&on, but are beginning to show their age (they are over 25 years old). The advice we were given for these buildings was to develop and implement plans for moderniza&on and maintenance that include security and parking lot safety, as well.
High School:
This building is in great condi&on. The areas of strength are the parking lot and building layout. Security features were kept in mind during the design and implementa&on of construc&on. This building is ten years old.
The needs in this building are certainly of a different nature than in the other schools; some are to improve areas that have not met the needs of our program, others are to build what we were unable to afford during ini&al construc&on.
Some of our programs do not have proper facili&es or our facili&es have not met the educa&onal needs of the program. For example, we lack facili&es that meet the needs of the band program, the wrestling program, and we also lack prac&ce fields and outside structures and restroom facili&es.
As you can imagine, much work has gone into this area of study and much more will go into it. I invite you to par&cipate as we con&nue down this path. Our goal is to have invi&ng learning facili&es for our students where they can safely learn, grow and develop.
Warmest regards,
Sandra Yager
Superintendent
► Our Students ► Our Staff ► Smarter Balanced
Assessments ► Common Core ► Community
Education
Inside this Issue
Hockinson Community Ed
See what’s new in Hockinson Community Education!
Our very popular 5-6 Grade Girls Volleyball program is back this year. Flyers have been sent out to students in all schools. If you did not receive a flyer and your daughter is interested in participating, please contact Community Education or look for information on our website.
Our Women’s Self Defense class runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays from April 29—May 22 from 6:30—7:30 p.m.
There is still space available in our Tae Kwon Do and Jazzercise classes.
Our summer camp lineup is rolling out and current information is posted on our website, www.hocksd.org . Keep checking back for up-to-date information.
Hockinson School District facilities are available after school hours for use or rent by community members, groups and organizations. Arrangement for all school locations are made through the
Community Education office by calling (360) 448-6480. Facility requests must be submitted at least 5 business days prior to use. Schools may be rented for community purposes, provided that such use does not interfere with educational or district programs. The school district welcomes the use of its facilities by members of the surrounding community for various types of activities, which must be consistent with the best interests of the district and not interfere with the regular conduct of the educational program.
Would you like to teach a class? Do you have a hobby or knowledge in a certain subject area? We are looking for instructors to teach new
class offerings. Please contact us for more information. For more information on any of our classes, please visit our website
at www.hocksd.org-Community Education or you may call Janet Hawkins, Hockinson Community Education at (360) 448-6480.
Hours: 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM
To inspire all to live with strong core values, to become competent, responsible learners, independent thinkers, and positive contributors to our changing world.
Superintendent and School Board Survey
Annually, the school district invites the community to participate in a brief opinion poll to
provide feedback on the performance of the Superintendent and Board of Directors.
Please check our website at www.hocksd.org in the near future for further information
and the date when the survey will be available.
Our Students
Winter Athle�cs
Boys Swim—placed 2nd at Districts and 5th at State. Wrestling—HHS hosted Regionals this year. Several students qualified for Regionals. Don Oja also qualified as an alternate for the 2A State Mat Classic Tournament. Girls Basketball—2nd in League. Players selected for 2A GSHL All League Teams: 1st Team—Katelyn McGuire; 2nd Team—Sydnie Cole-Vogler, Hannah Neibauer. Honorable Men&on: Bri.any McGuire, Brooke Sparks and Elle Tilkin. Boys Basketball—League Co-Champions, 2nd in Districts. Players selected for GSHL 2A All League Teams: 1st Team—Alan Haagen (Co-Player of the Year), Jack Klodt; 2nd Team—Nate Gunderson. Honorable Men&on: Jess Krahn and Taylor Rennaker. Cheer and Stunt—1st place at the 2014 Washington State Cheer Championship. Competed in the Na&onal Cheer Compe&&on in Orlando, FL.
Academic Achievements for Winter Athle�cs
Congratula&ons to the following Hockinson Varsity Winter Teams for qualifying for a Washington Interscholas&c Ac&vi&es Associa&on Scholas&c Award: Dis�nguished Team Award (GPA 3.00—3.49): Boys Swim, Dance Team Outstanding Team Award (GPA 3.50—4.00): Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, Winter Cheer and Compe&&on Team and Speech and Debate Team. Washington State Academic Champion Award: Girls Varsity Basketball—GPA of 3.759; Varsity Fall Cheer team—GPA of 3.70.
Le'ers About Literature
Each year, Hockinson students par&cipate in the Le.ers About Literature compe&&on, which is sponsored by the Washington State Library and the Library of Congress. This year’s semifinalists are Emily Coulimore, Mallory Hylton, Joel Koehler, Brynn Landwehr and Jessica Lunceford.
HHS Band
The HHS Jazz Band par&cipated in the Washington Newport High School Jazz Fes&val. AMer a great performance in the preliminary round, the band was invited back later that night as one of three bands in their division to compete in the final round, where they walked away with the first place trophy for the A/AA division bands.
There were some outstanding soloists, including Nick Bever (alto sax), Brendon Broer (trumpet), Aaron Garner (baritone sax), and Lily Quintana (tenor sax/clarinet). Caidin Cheney (trombone) was selected as the top soloist for the en&re A/AA division!
HMS MESA
On March 22, 2014, the regional SW Washington MESA (Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement) Day Engineering Design Compe&&on was held on the Clark College campus. This compe&&on provides students the opportunity to showcase their design, problem-solving, mathema&cal and communica&on skills by par&cipa&ng in various ac&vi&es on a compe&&ve basis.
Thanks to the efforts of Anna-Melissa Lyons and John Krauser (teachers and MESA advisors), HMS sent ten teams to the event! Winners of the compe&&on will advance to the statewide MESA
Day compe&&on in Redmond, WA at the MicrosoM Conference Center with the possibility of advancing to the MESA USA Na&onal Design Compe&&on to be held at PSU in Portland, OR in June 2014.
For the full ar&cle and a great picture of the team, please see the March-April 2014 HMS newsle.er on our website.
Our Staff
Couvapalooza
On January 15, Mike and Heidi Troxler presented the Hockinson Elementary, Middle and High School band teachers with a check totaling $1,000 for use toward their music programs. Couvapalooza is a non-profit organiza&on founded by the Troxlers.
The annual music fes&val is held during the second week of August in Vancouver, WA and is a fundraiser for local music programs.
NASA’s SOFIA Program
Two of our Middle School teachers have been chosen as ambassadors of NASA’s SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) program. Anna-Melissa Lyons and Kim Abegglen are one of twelve two-person teams selected for SOFIA’s Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program. Each team will be paired with a professional astronomer for firsthand observa&on on how airborne infrared astronomy is conducted.
SOFIA is a highly modified Boeing 747SP jetliner fi.ed with a 100-inch effec&ve diameter telescope. The aircraM flies at al&tudes between 39,000 and 45,000 feet above the water vapor in the Earth’s atmosphere and collects data.
AMer their flight opportuni&es, each team will report what they’ve learned back in their classrooms.
Educators are selected through a rigorous peer-reviewed process for this annual opportunity for professional development.
Congratula&ons to both Anna-Melissa and Kim for this outstanding achievement and opportunity.
2 3
Washington Schools Participating in Field Test of Next-Generation Assessments In the coming weeks, schools across Washington State will participate in the Field Test of the Smarter Balanced assessments in grades 3-8. The Smarter Balanced assessments are a key part of implementing the Common Core State Standards, preparing all students for success in college and careers. The Smarter Balanced Assessment System will replace existing assessments and provide an academic checkup by measuring students’ real-world skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. In addition, they will provide information during the year to give teachers and parents a better picture of where students are succeeding and where they need help. This Field Test will help ensure the assessments are accurate and fair for all students. The Field Test also will give teachers and schools a chance to gauge their readiness in advance of the first operational assessments in spring 2015. Each Smarter Balanced state and district individually determined how schools and students would be selected to take the Field Test. In Hockinson School District, the Field Test will be administered to all students in grades 3-8 in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math. Students in grades 5 and 8 will continue to take the MSP for Science. High School students will be taking the HSPE and EOCs as they did last year.
The Field Test represents one of the final stages in a lengthy development process working to ensure the Smarter Balanced Assessment System aligns to the Common Core State Standards and accurately measures the depth and breadth of student knowledge. As a Smarter Balanced member, Washington has played a leading role in the development of the assessments. Educators from Washington have participated in the assessment development process by reviewing and testing thousands of assessment items and performance tasks. Smarter Balanced is committed to producing assessments that are accurate and fair for all students. The Consortium developed usability, accessibility, and accommodation features to ensure all students have a productive and positive assessment experience. All of these features (with the exception of a closed captioning tool) will be available for student use on the Field Test. To learn more about the available features, visit http://www.smarterbalanced.org/parents-students/support-for-under-represented-students/.
For more information on the Field Test, visit:
http://www.smarterbalanced.org/field-test/ or http://www.k12.wa.us/smarter.
Tanna Colwell
IMPORTANT INFORMATION Dates for Snow Make-Up Days
December 6, 2013—make up on June 17, 2014
December 10, 2013—make up on June 18, 2014
December 11, 2013—make up on February 14, 2014
February 7, 2014—make up on June 19, 2014
February 10, 2014—make up on June 20, 2014
Child Find Informa�on Child Find is a component of Individuals with Disabili&es Educa&on
Act (IDEA) that requires all states to iden&fy, locate and evaluate
all children with disabili&es who are in need of early interven&on
or special educa&on services.
For more informa&on, you may contact Jenny Ristau at (360) 448-
6400 or visit our website at www.hocksd.org.
From le2: Mike Troxler, Heidi Troxler, Emily Spannring, Amanda Crumbley, Corey McEnry, Megan Miles, Jennifer Ritenburgh and Superintendent Sandra Yager. Photo courtesy of Amanda Crumbley
Common Core Standards
By Superintendent Sandra Yager
There are many ques&ons surrounding Common Core Standards: What are they? Where do they come from? How are we preparing for them? What does classroom implementa&on look like? How will the state assessments change from the current MSP and HSPE?
Standards are not new to educa&on. In 1993, our state moved to a standards-based system for all of the districts to have a “common” set of expecta&ons. Un&l then, instruc&on had varied greatly from district-to-district, even school-to-school. Over twenty years later, we find that our country is trying to apply the same thinking on a larger scale. The goal is to provide a clear, consistent, “core” of standards so that all children have access to the same educa&on, regardless of ZIP code.
The Common Core ini&a&ve is a state-led effort coordinated by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Na&onal Governors Associa&on. A total of 45 states have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
Standards alone do not advance student learning; teachers are at the heart of the standards. Educators must have the resources, tools and &me to fundamentally adjust their prac&ce. CCSS are a clear set of shared goals and expecta&ons for what students need to learn, but they will not dictate how teachers should teach, nor do they dictate what materials teachers and districts use to achieve them. Teachers and schools will con&nue to devise curriculum, carefully plan their lessons, and tailor instruc&on to the individual needs of their students.
Many wonder what is so different about CCSS. The main key shiM for the English Language Arts (ELA) standards are:
• Read as much non-fiction as fiction;
• Learn about the world by reading;
• Read more challenging material closely;
• Discuss reading using evidence;
• Write non-fiction using evidence; and
• Increase academic vocabulary
Non-fiction makes up the majority of required reading in high school, college and the workplace. Since informational text is harder for students to understand than narrative text, more instructional time is needed to practice.
Emphasis on reading, writing and speaking based on evidence is another shift. This became part of CCSS because most college and workplace writing requires evidence—being able to take a position or inform others through citing this evidence. The shift to regular practice and complex texts and academic language occurred because research showed that there is a gap in the difficulty of what students read by the end of high school and what they are required to read in both college and in their careers.
In Math, the main key shifts are:
• Focus: learn more about fewer key topics;
• Coherence: build skills within and across grades;
• Rigor: develop speed and accuracy;
• Really know it, really do it;
• Use it in the real world; and
• Think fast and solve problems
In developing the shifts in mathematics, there is a move from width to depth.
Hockinson School District teachers have been working on this transition for the last two years. I am confident in their professionalism and their ability to work through this new learning.
CCSS will be assessed with a new test: Smarter Balance Assessment. It is estimated that the students in our state will not do well in this test when first given. In Hockinson, we are piloting this test this spring in grades 3-8. Our students will not be participating in the MSP (Measure of Student Progress) test for reading, writing or math this year, however, they will do the MSP for science in grades 3-8.
There is a lot of information on the OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction website at www.k12.wa.us. As always, please do not hesitate to contact the district if you have any questions.
