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2024-25 Superintendent's Winter Welcome Back Message

2024-25 Superintendent's Winter Welcome Back Message
 

Hello, Everyone!

Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope each of you had a restful and rejuvenating winter break and that this first week back has been energizing as we welcomed everyone back to school.

As we step into 2025, there has been a great deal of excitement around all that has been accomplished so far this year and the opportunities that lie ahead!

Since school started in September, we have remained committed to the 5 goals of our strategic plan and our 3 key district priorities focused on: high quality rigorous core instruction, and academic and social emotional tiered support within small groups. Every single member of our school community has had a role to play in growth, celebrations, and successes we have seen happening within our schools and with our students.

There is a great deal happening in support of our goals and priorities that are and will improve outcomes for our students. For example, we launched the Portrait of a Graduate initiative focused on identifying the necessary skills and competencies we want every student to possess as they graduate from Federal Way. We’ve expanded academic programs like the Academy of Health Sciences, reached thousands of families through events such as Family Academy, Native Family Gatherings, Parent Advisory, Life After High School, and Scholar-Led Conferences. Additionally, we’ve expanded Breakfast in the Classroom and the Second Chance Breakfast program, ensuring that even more of our young people have access to nutritious meals.

As we look ahead, we will remain focused on our goals and priorities and we will look forward to exciting events in coming weeks and months, like recognizing several schools accelerating student academic growth as they receive their state recognition banners, or King County recognizing our Nutrition Department for closing the hunger gap, celebrating our new National Board Certified Teachers, hosting the District Music Festival in collaboration with Arts Foundation Federal Way showcasing hundreds of FWPS musicians, and inviting everyone to our annual STEAM Exploration Night, where thousands of PreK-12th grade scholars can discover endless possibilities in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.

And that’s not all: we’ll continue to provide unique learning experiences for our students, such as taking all kindergarteners to college campuses, inviting 5th grade students to our high school campuses to learn about career and technical education programs, expand access to college and career exploration for our 8th graders, host our 2nd annual CTE showcase, and launch a district wide moving up day focused on smooth and successful transitions. And we don’t want to forget about the Storming the Sound event where we release salmon or the annual Battle of the Books. We’ll complete the Portrait of a Graduate initiative, sharing the vision with staff, families, and the community at Community Connect. And, of course, we all look forward to graduation!

These are just a few examples of how our collective efforts create meaningful opportunities for families, staff, community and most importantly our students. So, whether you’re a staff member, family, or community partner, every action, every moment of support, and every contribution makes a difference. I am looking forward to all that is ahead.

Again, happy new year and thank you for your partnership in support our 21,000 students.

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