Education briefs

Communications awards for Hood Canal schools

The Hood Canal School District, which has about 330 students, recently earned statewide recognition for excellence in communications at the Washington School Public Relations Association conference in Spokane.

Competing against districts with enrollments up to 10,000 students, Hood Canal earned top honors for its website, bond measure video, and annual report, showcasing its dedication to transparency and community engagement, according to a news release.

“It’s a privilege to share the stories, achievements and needs of our students and staff with our community,” Superintendent Lance Gibbon said in the news release, “This recognition reflects a true team effort. Huge thanks to SmartMeme Studio for their outstanding contribution to our bond video, to Susan Vining and Ryan Causgrove for their commitment to our website and to ESD 113 for their invaluable support with the annual report. We’re honored to have this work acknowledged.”

Hood Canal Board President Edie Reclusado added, “Better communication has been one of our board’s top goals. We’ve wanted communication that’s meaningful, effective, and timely, and this recognition shows just how far we have come in keeping things engaging and transparent across all our channels. Our board couldn’t be happier.”

Free online workshops to prepare preschoolers

The Shelton School District is offering free online workshops to the parents and caregivers of preschoolers to help prepare them for kindergarten.

The workshops are open to parents and caregivers in the Shelton School District of children ages birth to 5 years old.

The format is online and self-paced — you can pause any time. Each workshop lasts about an hour. After registering, an email will arrive with approval to begin. Participants who complete the workshop can receive a free tool kit while they are available.

The first workshop is available until Dec. 10. Register at https//www/readyforkindergarten.org/sheltonsd/sign-in.

Shelton School Board again honored

For the seventh year in a row, the Shelton School Board has been honored as a 2024 Board of Distinction by the Washington State School Directors’ Association.

According to the district, WSSDA representatives were impressed with the district’s strategic plan, “Shelton Success,” which is grounded in improving student outcomes and its initial successes.

Services for highly capable students

The deadline is Dec. 13 to nominate or refer Shelton School District students for Highly Capable services. According to the district, highly capable students generally possess the following learning characteristics:

• Capacity to learn with unusual depth of understanding, to retain what has been learned and to transfer learning to new situations

• Capacity and willingness to deal with increasing levels of abstraction and complexity earlier than their chronological peers

• Ability to make unusual connections among ideas and concepts

• Ability to learn quickly in their area(s) of intellectual strengths

• Capacity for intense concentration and/or focus

Students identified as highly capable qualify for receiving services designed to meet their unique needs as a learner. These services might include grade content acceleration and/or compacting; cluster grouping; academic enrichment; and advanced/AP courses.

Parents, teachers and others can nominate students. Fill out the parent permission and referral form and the teacher form on the district’s website under “What’s New” and then “Highly Capable Program Referral” and send to the child’s school office by Dec. 13.

For more information, contact Adrienne Minnery, director of curriculum and interaction K-6, at 360-426-1687, ext. 10032, or [email protected].