by Eric Webb
Orcas Island School District Superintendant
The end of one school year marks a significant milestone, yet it also serves as a reminder that the work here at OISD never truly ends! As OISD is planning and gearing up for the upcoming year, we want to assure you that we are constantly striving to improve the experiences and outcomes for students and staff alike, thus making education an ever-evolving journey toward excellence!
Future Employee Housing Program
Orcas Island School District is excited to announce that we have taken steps toward securing property for future Employee Housing, enlisting two new partners to join us on our journey toward further improving upon our district culture of belonging and migrating to a new, enhanced Education Management System.
At the June 18 school board meeting, the board adopted Policy 6113 to create a foundation for an Employee Housing Program for the district. Although only fundamental now, this policy sets the stage for a future housing program that will be developed over the coming years. In conjunction with this new policy, the school board also approved the purchase of three lots on the corner of North Beach Road and Mount Baker Road. These three lots totaling 1.75 acres are each zoned to accommodate five units each for employee housing!
This is a tremendous step in securing a bright future for OISD that will have an extraordinary impact on the recruitment, retention, and housing of present and future OISD employees and their families!
Climate and Culture
BELONG Partners (https://belongpartners.org/) is an education equity nonprofit that believes in a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive because they know they matter and belong. They partner with schools and organizations to build equitable communities where young people have dignity, voice, and agency by transforming the ways adults teach, parent, and care for youth.
The Center for Education Effectiveness (https://www.effectiveness.org/) is a transformative approach in K-12 education, who will partner with us to:
• Enhance school climate and culture through effective data gathering, analysis, and utilization.
• Empower educators and administrators to translate data into easily understandable insights and actionable response.
• Provide areas for celebration and improvement, enabling districts and schools to strategically address students’ needs.
• Build stakeholder trust, narrowing demographic gaps in student achievement.
• Create a positive work environment.
• Offer development for principals and superintendents, reducing their workload by improving systems and providing a practical blueprint for transformative change initiatives.
• Uncover nuanced insights into the school environment, ensuring a safe, inclusive, and engaging space for students, staff, and families. Actionable data, gleaned from the survey and validated through regularly scheduled collaboration visits, drives tailored solutions.
Education Management System
The Qmlativ Education Management system offers the latest and greatest SIS and ERP experience to education teams, making administrative tasks faster and simplifying student and business data management. The move from Skyward (our current Student and Business Information System) to the new and enhanced version Qmlativ is underway, with the final switch taking place during the week of July 1. What to expect with Qmlativ next fall: an easier and more user-friendly platform for staff, faculty and families to use: https://www.skyward.com/qmlativ/mobile-app-family-access
The district office will be open this summer, except the week of July 1- July 5. Wishing you and yours a safe and wonderful summer, and we look forward to seeing you in September!
