The Deer Park School District has an early release on Wednesday, November 26.  This is to help our families and employees as they prepare for the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

We wish all our students, parents and patrons a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We apologize to our students, staff and parents for any inconvenience caused by our need to close Deer Park High School on Friday, November 21 due to a natural gas leak.  We know that any disruption to the school day is inconvenient for you.

However, our evacuation of the school did go remarkably well.  Thank you to all involved.  From the staff at Arcadia, to the staff at Deer Park High School, from food service to transportation, many folks worked very hard to get our students onto buses or released to parents to head home.  

Also, we used our new Phone Messenger program to alert high school parents of the school closure and have tried to update our website frequently to give new information.

Again, thank you.

On Friday, November 21 at approximately 11:15, a gas line at Deer Park High School was hit by a contractor causing a natural gas leak.  The building was quickly and safely evacuated.  Fire District No. 4, in conversation with Avista Utilities and principal Joe Feist, have determined that the building will not be able to be re-occupied for school today.

As such, classes at Deer Park High School have been canceled for the rest of the day.  This is conference week in our elementary schools, and therefore high school students who ride the bus were asked to catch their regular bus at Arcadia Elementary School and were sent home at 12:40.

At 1:00pm, both students and staff who drove to school were given the "all clear" by Fire District No. 4 to get their vehicles and head home.

Conference week begins Wednesday, November 19 and ends Wednesday, November 26.  The 1/2 days for elementary students are November 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, and 26.  Deer Park Middle School has its fall conferences on Monday, November 24 which is a half day.

To assist our students, their families and our employees who are preparing for Thanksgiving, November 26 is a half day for the entire district.

Parent/teacher conferences are just around the corner.  This is one of the most valuable times in the school year for many reasons. 

For students, the parent-teacher conference provides an opportunity to reinforce positive attitudes and behavior. Students whose parents are interested and involved in the student's school experience tend to have better achievement.  For teachers, conferences create an opportunity to establish a positive partnership in the student's learning.  Teachers often come away from conferences saying they learned a great deal by talking with the child's parents. The exchange of information is extremely valuable.

For parents, conferences offer the opportunity to sit one to one with the teacher and talk about their child. Conferences help parents build a better understanding of the daily routines and expectations in the classroom. This is an important opportunity for parents to get a snapshot of their child as a learner and ask questions about how to help at home.  If you have a serious concern about an area of academic growth, be sure to let the teacher know.  Your child's teacher(s) will be happy to share strategies and ideas to increase success and self-assurance.

Teachers put a great deal of work and time into preparation for these conferences. They are eager to help your child be the best he/she can be. Your support helps us all in developing the best possible educational experience for your child.

In order to make your conference experience the best it can be, we've provided some questions you might want to ask.  Additionally, we've also suggested some things you might want to tell the teacher about your child.

Things you may want to ask the teacher:

• Does my child participate in classroom activities?
• Does he/she show self-control in school? 
• How does my child get along with classmates?
• How is my child handling grade level learning materials?
• Does my child seem to enjoy reading in his/her spare time?
• Is my child's comprehension suitable to their grade level?
• How does my child read orally?
• Does my child know grade level number facts?
• Does my child express thoughts and ideas clearly?
• How is my child's written communication?
• Does my child seem happy in school?

Things you may want to tell the teacher:

• Which school activities your child talks most about at home. 
• What responsibilities your child handles at home.
• If anything has happened lately at home that might affect your child's performance at school.
• Some of your child's favorite activities outside of school.
• What you believe are your child's strengths and weaknesses.

We hope you will join us, and citizens throughout our nation, in fostering a sense of civic pride and engagement by voting in the November 4th General Election.

Washington's Secretary of State, Sam Reed, reports that Washington has set a new record for voter registrations, topping the 3.5 million figure set in the competitive 2004 election year.  Numbers just prior to the registration deadline showed 3,515,393 registered voters in our state. The old record was 3,514,078, and that number was later trimmed back significantly to remove duplicate registrations, felons and deceased voters. During the past three years, over 160,000 of these voters were removed from the rolls. Others were moved to inactive status because their ballots were returned to the counties as undeliverable.

If you're interested in learning a little bit more about the issues on the ballot you may visit Washington's Online Voters Guide - this is an excellent resource for information and details regarding Federal, State, Congressional, Legislative, and Judicial elections.  Let your voice be heard!

Washington State University has announced its 2008-09 Regents Scholarship winners.  For the second year in a row, Deer Park seniors are on the list.

Rose Toenniessen and Ace Taylor have both been named Crimson Regents Scholarship winners!  Each qualify for $3,000 in scholarship for two years or a total of $6,000.

Regents Scholarships are based upon academics, leadership, community involvement and participation in co and extra curricular activities.

Congratulations to Rose and Ace!

Due to state curriculum day, there will be no school for students in Deer Park on Friday, October 10.  We are back at it on Monday!

Many teachers will be at school Friday or at workshops.  

Please have a wonderful weekend.