A Message From Superintendent Patrick Murphy
Dear families and community members,
We are pleased to share our 2018-19 Olympia School District Annual Report. In the summary that follows, you will find information about our school district, including a sampling of the many student and staff achievements over the past year.
You will also find information about district demographics, programs and services, how we are using financial resources provided by the state and community, updates on building improvements, and links to reports on our website that illustrate how our schools are meeting improvement goals.
Our district made great strides in the past year in our strategic planning process, including the school board’s adoption of Student Outcomes developed after extensive input from students, staff, families and community members. We thank everyone who attended focus group meetings and participated in community surveys about this topic. Be sure to visit the Strategic Planning webpage on the school district website to learn the latest about the Strategic Planning process.
We are especially proud of the Class of 2019, which posted the highest on-time graduation rate in the history of the district since that statistic has been kept. Along with the hard work of our students and support of their families, the 91.1% four-year graduation rate is surely the result of a persistent effort by dedicated teachers and staff from preschool through high school.
Like many of you, I am so thankful to be a part of the Olympia School District community. We live and work in a community that is committed like no other to the education of our children. Thank you for your continued dedication and service to the children and families of our community. It is a pleasure to partner with you in educating our students.
Sincerely,
Patrick Murphy
Superintendent
Good News From Around the District
Our Schools and Staff
As always, there are many more achievements in our district than we can summarize in this report, ranging from small acts of kindness to schoolwide accomplishments. We have included a few of these highlights from the 2018-19 year.
In 2018, Marshall Middle School and McLane Elementary School were each recognized as a 2018 School of Distinction. This award is presented annually to the top 5 percent of schools statewide that have made sustained improvement over the past five years in English language arts and math. This is the first year that McLane Elementary has been named a School of Distinction and the second year in a row for Marshall Middle School.
The success of our schools would not be possible without the hard work of our classified employees. Every year, our district honors classified employees nominated by staff, students and the community. The 2018 Classified Employees of the Year were:
Travis King, paraeducator at Centennial Elementary School. The 2018-19 school year was King’s fifth year at Centennial Elementary, where he works as a behavior technician.- Denise Pigue, paraeducator at Garfield Elementary School. The 2018-19 school year was Pigue's fourth year at Garfield Elementary School, where she works as a behavior technician. She has worked for the district since 2008.
- Todd Thornton, head custodian at Roosevelt Elementary School. Todd has worked as head custodian at Roosevelt Elementary for four years, as of the 2018-19 school year, and for the district since 2006.
Every year, OSD calls for nominations and recognizes one or more Teachers of the Year. Devin Alexander, a reading intervention specialist at LP Brown Elementary school, was named Elementary Teacher of the Year, while Olympia High School team teachers Lorraine Manning and Marion Sheridan were named Secondary Teachers of the Year. Manning and Sheridan taught in the Special Education Life Skills classroom.
In 2018-19, seven new Olympia School District teachers were named National Board Certified Teachers, as well as six educators who renewed their certification this year. Becoming nationally board-certified is a rigorous process and is considered one of the highest honors in the teaching profession.
This year’s new National Board Certified Teachers are Hallie Houge and Heather Murphy of Olympia High School; Ericka Boysen of Jefferson Middle School; Aaron Schofield, Julie Woods and Danelle Wright of Washington Middle School; and Anita Roedell of Centennial Elementary School.
Educators who have renewed their national board certification include Patricia Arbuckle and Kathleen Gillespie-Atkinson of Hansen Elementary School; Michael Deakins of Capital High School; Paul Rae of Olympia High School; Dorothy Espedal-Johnson of McKenny Elementary School; and Keith Holder of Jefferson Middle School.
In March 2019, Olympia High School received a prodigious award. OHS was given National Unified status. It is one of only 233 schools in the United States to receive this status for their commitment to inclusion. National Unified status is given by the Special Olympics to schools who have met 10 national standards of excellence.
Olympia Regional Learning Academy (ORLA) teacher Cristy Havens was selected as the Washington Association for Learning Alternatives Alternative Learning Experience Elementary Educator of the Year. Havens was nominated by ORLA hConnect & MAST teacher Laura Herman and the ORLA administrative team.
Just a few months later in June 2019, four OSD schools were named 2017-18 Washington State Recognized Schools. Boston Harbor Elementary School, McLane Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School and Avanti High School were awarded this honor. These schools won this award for growth measured by the Washington School Improvement Framework, as well as achievement in English Language Arts and math proficiency.
Our Students:
We are incredibly proud of the accomplishments of our Olympia School District students. Here are a few highlights of their accomplishments from the 2018-19 school year:
A team of four Olympia High School students, coached by Brian LeTourneau, competed in the National Economics Challenge in New York. They placed second in the nation out of nearly 1,200 teams. After the competition, the students had the chance to do some sightseeing in New York, including Central Park, Times Square and the Statue of Liberty.
In the sports accomplishments realm, the Washington State Volleyball Coaches Association named Capital High School junior Maia Nichols 3A state player of the year. Arizona State also offered Nichols a scholarship for beach volleyball to play for the Sun Devils.
At the middle school level, four students won top awards at the state science fair. Veda Svs, an 8th grader at Marshall Middle School, won first place at the state science fair for her stellar project, “Turn that Sound Down.” Veda and three students from Jefferson Middle School placed in the top categories at the state science fair. At Jefferson Middle School, 6th grader Shravya Gupta dubbed her project “Spinning, Twirling, Wow, my Head is Whirling.” She placed first in the junior division and Broadcom MASTERS, which will allow her to compete in the national competition. Aarav Verma, a 6th grader at Jefferson, created a project called “Wind to Works,” winning first place in the junior division and also Broadcom MASTERS. Harshini Saravan, a 7th grader at Jefferson, competed for the first time in the senior division at state. Her science project “Speed it Up, Break it Down,” studied enzyme reactions and how they are affected by temperature using a solution from potatoes and hydrogen peroxide. She placed second at the state science fair.
Elliot Beagle, a 7-year-old at Hansen Elementary School, enjoys drawing a variety of art pieces including a certain competition-winning green monster. Elliot joined 19 other young artists whose drawings of imaginative monsters were selected as part of an international competition. Jasper Wong, a pop culture artist, took the winning designs and reinterpreted them into a design for PLAE, a company that specializes in artistic shoe and T-shirt design. Elliot named his monster “Green Eevee.”
Johanna Chhay, a junior at Capital High School, was named 2019 Boys & Girls Club of Thurston County “Youth of the Year.” The Youth of the Year competition takes place on the local, county and state level, finishing with the national level. Chhay competed against other winners within Thurston County to win the 2019 Youth of the Year nomination.
Four Washington MS students took 1st place in Group Chinese Language Arts for the 2019 Washington Chinese Language and Talent Competition: Jack Mou, Audrey Shen, Garal Wang-Panoke and Izayah Qiu. In addition to placing 1st in Group Chinese Language Arts, Mou won 2nd place in Individual Public Speaking, Shen placed 3rd in Group Poetry Recitation and Wang-Panoke also placed 3rd in Group Poetry Recitation.
Our students set their minds on accomplishing many feats, from academics to sports to other areas of interest. Their hard work and enthusiasm paid off in many accomplishments, and we are quite sure the best is yet to come. We look forward to seeing the accomplishments of our students in the upcoming school years.
District continues to boast high graduation rates
The Olympia School District’s graduation rate for the Class of 2019 reached 91.1%, ranking it among the highest on-time graduation rates in school district history. The percent of students who graduated in five years also climbed at several high schools and contributed to an overall district extended graduate rate of 92.5%.
Thank you OSD volunteers who help our schools
Our district is lucky to have the support of thousands of volunteers who help in our schools each year to support students and staff. In the 2018-19 school year, 4,932 people logged 50,706 hours of service to our schools.
Bill Kallappa receives Community Leadership Award
Bill Kallappa, interim director of the Nisqually Tribe Education Department and new member of the State Board of Education, has been recognized with this year’s Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) Community Leadership Award for his outstanding contributions to education. Throughout its history, the Washington Association of School Administrators has been involved in honoring and recognizing outstanding educational administrators and those individuals in other professions who have made extraordinary contributions to K–12 education.
The school board shared the draft student outcomes beginning in August with staff, students, families and the community and asked for input during in-person focus groups and on an electronic feedback form. After reflecting on that initial input, the board made some revisions to the draft student outcomes on October 1 and again on October 29, 2018.
Directors approved the outcomes at the December 10, 2018 school board meeting. They read:
Our students will:
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Outcome 1: Be compassionate and kind.
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Outcome 2: Have the academic and life skills to pursue their individual career, civic and educational goals.
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Outcome 3: Advocate for the social, physical and mental wellness of themselves and others and be hopeful about the future.
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Outcome 4: Have the skills, knowledge and courage to identify and confront personal, systemic and societal bias.
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Outcome 5: Discover their passions, be curious and love learning.
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Outcome 6: Be critical thinkers who contribute to and collaborate with our local, global and natural world.
1:1 Initiative launches at Reeves and Marshall Middle Schools
The 2018 passage of the OSD Technology and Safety Replacement levy sets the stage to provide each student with computing tools that can be
used every day, from any place, to support their learning. These tools will promote higher-level thinking, engage students in the learning process and prepare them for life after graduation.
Students grades 6-8 at Marshall and Reeves Middle Schools will receive a district-owned Chromebook to use at school and home during the school year. The 2019-20 school year will bring about more Chromebook use in the Olympia School District.
Progress continues on 2016 voter-approved school bond projects
The 2018-19 school year was a busy year as construction activity in our schools and Knox 111 Administrative Center continued. These facility and safety improvements were approved by voters in the 2016 school bond. Below is a brief summary of some of the major projects:
Capital High School
The new two-story Performing Arts Center (PAC) was one of these projects. It will seat 500 people. The existing PAC will be converted to a lecture hall. Work was also done on the siding of Capital’s main building and portions of the school are being reroofed. Other improvements included replacing single-pane windows with double panes, removing non-functioning in-wall heaters and adding a new air distribution system.
Olympia High School
Several construction projects were also underway at Olympia High School. The Main Office was under construction with the installation of a new reception window and secured vestibule. Carpeting was also replaced in existing classrooms, offices and the Performing Arts Center. Work continues on the addition of a 2,000-square-foot music room and four additional science classrooms and science prep rooms. Construction of these classroom additions will continue throughout the 2019-20 school year.
Centennial Elementary School
More progress was made in Summer 2019 on the Centennial Elementary modernization project. Work continued on modernizing the kitchen to make the food service system more efficient; adding a permanent stage, as well as adding new lighting and new ceilings in the multipurpose room; adding new classroom furniture throughout the school; and reconfiguring the parking lot to streamline pick up and drop-off, as well as ease traffic congestion on side streets.
McLane Elementary School
Similar to Centennial, McLane Elementary School construction included a modernization of the school kitchen to make the food service system more efficient. New basketball backstops were added, and the installation of a new heating and cooling system were among the upgrades to the gym. The multipurpose room features a permanent stage, new lighting and ceilings. Like Centennial, McLane’s parking lot was reconfigured to ease congestion. The school playground surface was also upgraded in Summer 2019 with rubberized tile.
Roosevelt Elementary School
Work in summer 2019 included the renovation of the school’s front entry canopy to allow more daylight in, while allowing for a covered area for students and parents to stand on rainy days. The parking lot was reconfigured to ease congestion. The San Francisco Street entry has been closed to minimize congestion along that busy street. Similar to Centennial and McLane, improvements at Roosevelt included modernizing the kitchen and service area, improving the heating and cooling system in the gym, and repainting.
.jpg "New Knox 111 building front with autumn trees and blue sky")
District Office: Knox 111 Administrative Center
Also during summer, extensive work continued on the new location of the Knox Administrative Center at 111 Bethel St. N.E. (former home of The Olympian newspaper). Administrative offices began moving to the new site in late July from the former location at 1113 Legion Way S.E. The move will make way for the eventual expansion of Avanti High School, which is also part of the 2016 school bond improvement projects.