EDUCATION NEWS

A Dynamic and Vibrant Place!

Children benefit greatly when parents, families, and members of the community are involved with schools. Adult participation sends the message that school is important. Legislation and community funding from foundations help make Eastgate Elementary a dynamic and vibrant place. Help us keep education a priority!

36 Bellevue Teachers Became National Board Certified This Past Year!

These dedicated and skilled teachers are an exceptional group; only 3% of teachers nation-wide hold this endorsement. Congratulations to these accomplished individuals! They join the 250+ National Board Certified teachers already educating our kids in Bellevue Schools.

Did You Know?

~ Multiple studies have shown that the National Board Certification process makes a measurable impact on student learning, engagement, and achievement, especially for struggling students.
~ Since 2003, the Schools Foundation has provided over $750,000 to support National Board certification in Bellevue Schools.
~ This funding helped teachers cover the cost of certification and provided National Board Certified facilitators to mentor applicants through the process.
~ Our school district leads the state in the number of Board Certified teachers, and is 6th in the nation.

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New Interim Superintendent

Click here for more information.

Boundary Review Update

Bellevue is growing and its schools are no exception. In recent years, the Bellevue School District has been the fastest growing school district in King County. The District has been closely monitoring crowding in several schools (Clyde Hill, Chinook and Newport) and you can see short-term solutions below which were developed in November of 2010 for those schools.

Click here for more information.

Boundary Review Update FAQs

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At the State Level

There was a Legislative session attended by Eastgate’s Legislative Liaison Lisa Shank in mid-Oct. The main discussions surrounded the state’s $2 billion budget gap. The governor has proposed cuts that include the following from education:

o Reduce funding to Early Learning by $23+ million
o Reduce the school year by one week
o Increase class size
o Eliminate levy equalization
o Eliminate the state’s funding for school bus transportation
o Eliminate National Board Certification bonuses for teachers
o Reduce state support to colleges and universities by 20%

The State PTA stressed the importance of communities and parents needing to get involved and have a voice in this process. The best people to contact are our local representatives. One of Bellevue’s representatives is Marcie Maxwell and she can be reached at marcie@marciemaxwell.org.

Focus Day is February 20th in Olympia.

To find out more about WA State PTA's priorities Click here.

To get transcripts from the legislative sessions Click here.

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Rapid Response Funds Bullying Prevention Curriculum

Data from the Healthy Youth Survey conducted in the spring of 2010 revealed that the prevalence of bullying among 8th graders in Bellevue School District surpasses the state average. As a result, the District selected Second Step, Student Success through Prevention for Grades 6, 7 and 8, published by Committee for Children to support the implementation of the middle school bullying prevention and social skills.

Unfortunately, the District lacked funds to purchase enough copies; teachers and counselors were asked to share one set of curriculum materials per grade level in each building. In some instances, five instructors were sharing a single set of materials and unable to use them to prepare their lessons.

Enter Bellevue Schools Foundation! Michelle Proulx, lead counselor for the District, approached Roxanne to ask if there was any way the Foundation could help. Very quickly a request was submitted to the Grantmaking Committee which, in turn, unanimously approved Rapid Response funds to purchase the needed materials. The curriculum binders, with special Bellevue Schools Foundation bookplates, are now in use in our middle schools.