I hope you all have had a great summer. I am very excited to get the 25-26 school year going, but hope you still get some time for rest and relaxation before we get started. We've been busy while you were away.

The custodians and facilities teams have done an outstanding job over the summer getting the schools and grounds ready for the start of the year. There are still some projects to finish, but they have been extremely busy. We appreciate all their efforts the last couple of months with all the projects both big and small, as well as planned and unplanned. In addition the tech team has been very busy upgrading our tech system including preparing new Chromebooks as well as making sure our older ones are ready for action. Our transportation and nutrition services teams are also ramping up and will be ready for our students to return in September.

Joell Boast has worked many extra days this summer to revamp and streamline the website. She has worked really hard to standardize our look and standards for pages, and finish the transition we started last year. We have continued to refine our roles and responsibilities within the Teaching and Learning team as we have worked to build systems to support our adults in the district to positively impact student learning.

Jen Kuntz, who is now our Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning, has shared the refinements made with our administrative team. We have been following the requirements of our settlement agreement with the DOJ and have a much more robust system for tracking Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying allegations as well as investigations for Title IX and Civil Rights issues.

We are really excited about our new Strategic Plan and Portrait of a Graduate. It has been a real struggle the last two years for us to operate without a clear direction for our work. Not having coherent systems to support improvement (like a consistent School Improvement Planning process) was a real surprise for me. There has been a lot of work done by the T and L team, and building teams, to develop our systems. We are now ready to take the next steps in our improvement journey and I am looking forward to seeing that progress. You can view both on our website at: https://www.esd401.org/strategicplan

I hope you all have a great week and are rested and ready to go as we prepare to take our impact on student learning to new heights in 25-26.

Your Partner in Education,

Troy Tornow

Superintendent

ESD Child Nutrition recently announced that Valley View has gained free meal eligibility for 2025-2026. There will be no charge for school meals (breakfast and lunch) at all four of the elementary schools, the Early Learning Center and Big Picture High School.

"We worked really hard to get this in place for Valley View this year.," says Director of Child Nutrition Alexandra Epstein-Solfield. "Valley View qualifies under the state's House Bill 1238, which ensures free meals for any elementary school with a free/reduced percentage of 30% or greater. Unfortunately, secondary schools were not included in the bill."

Big Picture, while not an elementary school, was able to qualify based on the number of students who receive free/reduced percentage meals at that location. "The Big Picture offers meals at no charge because they qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), not HB 1238," says Epstein-Solfield. "For CEP a school must have a free percentage of 40% or greater (reduced eligible students don't count for this program so it is much stricter than HB 1238)."

Participation is not required and families are always free to pack lunches if they do not want to receive free meals.

Although meals are free at many campuses, all eligible families still need to fill out the free/reduced application. "It is important that ALL students whose families believe they meet the requirements for free and reduced-priced meals are included on a Child Nutrition Eligibility & Education Benefits (CNEEB) application regardless of the school they attend," says Epstein-Solfield.

Apply online https://www.mymealtime.com/Apps/SignIn.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fapps

Exciting news! In an effort to provide increased access to programs and resources that improve our students’ lives, Ellensburg School District is preparing to launch Peachjar on Sept. 3. This new platform will enable us to send important school and community flyers to parents and guardians digitally.

 

Emails containing digital school approved flyers will be sent to you once we go live. Active flyers will also be found via the Peachjar flyerboard button on your child’s school website. You can easily click to sign up for events and programs directly from flyer buttons. No more digging through backpacks to find a lost flyer; the Peachjar web flyerboard provides a one stop shop for your child(s) opportunities.

Once we go live, you’ll receive a welcome email from Peachjar to let you know. No action is required to begin receiving this communication from your school. Look for emails with the subject line of “School Announcement and Opportunities for your Child.”

 

To ensure you don’t miss notifications, we suggest you add school@peachjar.com to your email contacts and click “always display images” when you receive your first email.

 

Peachjar is used exclusively for the distribution of school and district-approved flyers only. Your email address will not be shared or used for any other purpose.

 

Thank you for supporting our efforts to ensure parents and guardians are well informed about school and community programs, activities, and events!

Last fall a dedicated group of volunteers, representing parents, students, staff, and community members, set out on a journey to define the goals, promises, and plans to guide our District for the next five years.

"We are grateful for the months of work our volunteers put in to make this document a true reflection of how we want our community's schools to look," says Superintendent Troy Tornow. "Our Teaching and Learning Team, under the direction of Jen Kuntz, has been working all spring and summer to align our practices with our new road map."

You can view the new Strategic Plan and Portrait of a Graduate here or by visiting our website at https://www.esd401.org/strategicplan.

There is a change to pick-up and drop-off procedures at Lincoln this year.

Buses will now load and unload students at the front of the building on Sampson St., while parents will do pick up and drop off at the back of the building on Walnut St.

Thank you for helping us create a safer process at Lincoln!

Our Maintenance and Custodial crews were busy all summer with improvements, adjustments and projects to improve schools.

During his report to the Board on September 13, Director of Maintenance Randy Acker reviewed the many projects the team accomplished this summer. The team went far beyond the normal deep clean, groundskeeping and floor refinishing, you would expect in the summer. Among the many projects were:

●    EHS BOILER BURNER #1 - More work was done to keep the EHS heating system working with the replacement of a boiler burner.

●    EHS ADA PLATFORM AT STADIUM – An ADA accessible platform was added to Andreotti Field to make sporting events more accessible. While this improvement is a step in the right direction, the stadium is not fully ADA compliant.

●    EHS CULINARY ARTS KITCHEN – An improved culinary arts classroom awaits students in the Career and Technical Education program at the high school. This also required the installation of an additional exhaust system.

●    IDA NASON GREENHOUSE – Gardening took a step up at Ida, where a greenhouse was installed. The new facility is the result of grant money.

●    IDA NASON RUNNING TRACK – Ida also has a new running track for students!

●    MT STUART IRRIGATION BYPASS AND POND DREDGE – While not as glamorous, this was a wet, dirty and very important project.

●    MT STUART AND IDA PLAYGROUND TOPSOIL – Yes, we know the grass was ugly. In the original construction project, top soil was not put in place. Even our kinders know grass won’t grown on rocks. If you saw the team spreading yards and yards of soil, it is so students (and neighbors) can enjoy sweet green grass instead of weeds and dust.

●    VALLEY VIEW OUTDOOR BASKETBALL COURT – With funding from the PTA and District, Valley View has a brand-new basketball court. They got to try it out in the spring!

●    VALLEY VIEW, TRANSPORTATION, EHS ASPHALT REPAIR AND TOP COAT WITH NEW LINES PAINTED – Did you know that the strip between Valley View and EHS is a “road” that the District maintains? It, as well as parking lots in the area, were resurfaced this summer!

Thank you to these hardworking crews who sweated their way through the summer to ensure that our schools are beautiful, functional and ready for the return of staff and students! 

Ida Nason Aronica will host Meet the Teacher Night on Sept. 2, 5:30-6:30 PM.

Lincoln's Back to School and Supply Drop-Off Night will be held on Sept 2 from 4:45-5:30 PM.

Mt. Stuart will hold a special "Camp Stuart"" back to school adventure on Sept. 2 from 5:30-6:15 PM.

Valley View will host a Meet the Teacher Night on Sept. 2 from 5-6 PM

Morgan Bulldog Day is August 27 from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Big Picture High School will host a Welcome Back Open House, with tours on August 27 from 11 AM to 1 PM.

Also mark your calendars for the October 10 school open house and community resource fair from 4:30-6PM!

We want to wish our families, students and staff a great Labor Day weekend.

We will be out in full force for the Saturday parade. Look for the school bus and our exceptional EHS Band, among others.

We know many students will be parting with animals they have raised and cared for, and that letting go isn't always easy. We are proud of your hard work!

Have a great time at the Fair!