Weeks of preparations for the start of expanded in-person learning were put on hold Tuesday, when Tahoma Superintendent Mike Hanson announced the suspension of the Oct. 19 return to in-person learning for students in preschool-grade 2.

“We are disappointed to announce that rising rates of COVID-19 transmission in King County have led us to delay inviting Tahoma students in preschool through grade 2 back to classrooms on Oct. 19,” Hanson said in an email to all Tahoma families and staff. “For now, students will continue with remote learning in their current placements while the small number of students now using services on campus will continue, unless public health guidance indicates reconsideration.”

The decision delays plans by at least a few weeks to return the majority of Tahoma School District students to classrooms, which has prompted many parents to ask school officials when they will be told about revised plans for in-person learning. There currently is no timeline for restarting efforts to offer in-person learning, since it is dependent on the level of COVID-19 transmission. Parents will receive a survey soon that is focused on their scheduling preferences when it becomes possible to restart in-person learning plans. Tahoma staff will receive a parallel survey.

“Once the COVID-19 transmission numbers come back down into the moderate range, we can resume our efforts to start hybrid learning,” said Dawn Wakeley, executive director of Teaching and Learning. “In the survey, we ask parents for some of their preferences as we plan for moving from remote to in-person learning.”

Despite the delay in starting the transition to in-person learning, Tahoma will continue to refine plans and procedures that will be in effect when students return to school.

Just like other classrooms throughout the district, the art rooms at Tahoma High School sit empty on most days, except for the teachers. But on one recent afternoon, the roll-up doors stood open, and students trickled past to drop off their ceramics artwork for firing in the kiln. Wearing masks and following distancing protocols, teachers exclaimed over the pieces, and students described parts of their process or what they loved about the finished piece. 

“What I love about teaching art, is seeing their faces light up with pride, excitement and self-confidence within themselves, from what they have learned and created in their art classes,” teacher Kara Oxner said. “Students not only walk away with actual products that they have created, but they also discover great things about themselves through their various problem-solving skills, challenges, planning, execution, presentation, persistence and time management skills. They are discovering that they can accomplish great things, and you can see the pride they have with that success!”

Remote learning has certainly presented challenges for art classes, just as for every other subject and grade across the system. Despite that, Tahoma High School’s art teachers and students are finding success. Earlier this fall, the art teachers offered a special supply pick-up for their students, with items that vary by class. Ceramics students, for example, received a 25-pound block of clay, special tools to carve and shape with, and a canvas mat to work on.

“We are coming together as a community to offer authentic experiences, and finding ways to create highly engaging lessons to empower student learning. As a result, we are seeing some great success in the art programs, through the visual evidence,” Oxner said. “Kids have been expressing in their artist statements at the end of each lesson -- how their art classes are the best part of the day and they are creating some really amazing pieces that they are proud of. I recently heard that there is a group of students who have a special ceramics chat group to show and talk about their work with each other. I thought that was the coolest thing ever!”

Fellow art teacher Jennifer McCoy, who is also the head of the Visual Arts Department, said “My students are rocking this fall. Last spring was just emergency learning. This fall is full blown school, and they are rising to the challenges and doing a great job.”

McCoy said her students are eager and ready to learn. “Students are like sponges. They soak in all you can provide them. Art is a release of stress and anxiety for most students. It helps balance the day.”

As a teacher, she said the biggest challenge has been not seeing her students’ faces. She said she wishes more students would keep their cameras on so that she can teach to them as people rather than boxes filled with names.

Sophomore Taylor Dideon, who is in Oxner’s ceramics class, said that before the year started, the idea of remote learning art was worrisome. “To be honest, I was actually quite nervous to create art with clay because I am a horrible drawer and I was afraid that making a creation out of clay would be much harder. But, actually, it's really easy and really fun to work with. My confidence has definitely improved because my creations are turning out really good and close to what I drew and designed. So art this quarter has been really fun and awesome to prove to myself I can create something out of clay and have it turn out well.”

And, Dideon pointed out, the remote learning aspect -- and different types of access to teacher help -- can in certain circumstances help the student in the long run. “Remote learning really falls on the kids and I don't think it's bad at all because it's teaching the kids how to problem solve. It's teaching the kids how to make things work and how to get creative, and that's what art is all about: Being creative and figuring out how you're going to make your design work. The teacher can help you and show you how they would create a design but, at the same time, you have to figure out how you're going to make something work.”

When wifi issues caused Dideon to miss a few pieces of instruction, she said she was able to attend Power Hour to get help from Oxner. “Ceramics at home may seem like ‘How is that going to work!?’ It actually is quite easy and quite a lot of fun!”

She said that her favorite project so far has been a ceramics piece with an owl made to look as though it’s coming out of the frame, using the techniques of high relief and bas relief.

Art teacher Amy Goldberg said most of her students have risen to the situation. “This is difficult for them. I'm proud of their efforts. This fall, the quality of work/engagement has increased a lot compared to last spring,” Goldberg said. “As students and teachers are getting comfortable with the format and learning how to connect with each other, things seem to be improving. Students are required to really dig in and look at their own learning. It's great to see this happening.”

Like McCoy, Goldberg said the hardest thing is not being physically in the classroom with her students. “I look forward to getting back into the classroom and moving around my space,” she said.

The best part of remote learning is everything that the students are learning, Goldberg added. “What excites me the most is that students are seeing what is possible and what they are capable of accomplishing.” 

To check out more incredible art from THS students in the first quarter classes, click here for a slideshow on the website, or visit the high school's Facebook page.

Over the summer, we shared an update about Tahoma’s work in the area of equity, which is being led by Dr. Caprice Hollins of Cultures Connecting, and by Emilie Hard, Tahoma’s Director of Equity. We have also established an Equity Ad Hoc Committee and an Equity Support team, both of which include students and parents/guardians of color.

In the months since, Superintendent Mike Hanson and Emilie Hard have met with each building staff in turn, to share:

*Why the district is prioritizing this work: 

*What Tahoma’s goals are in equity:

*What to expect in the first year of this work, such as listening to student voices, using data to inform actions, set goals in priority areas (committees), begin curriculum review and revision, engage diverse parents in equity work.

Tahoma now has an Equity page on the website. It includes basic information about our focus on equity, and will be updated. In December, Hard will update the School Board about the progress and the work ahead.

Both Maple View and Summit Trail middle schools are now offering curbside checkout of library books. 

At Maple View, students may place up to two books on hold by the end of the day each Tuesday, for pick up that Thursday. Pick up times are from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on most Thursdays, with extended hours on the dates of school-wide supply distributions. As a bonus, students who use the service will automatically have their name entered into a weekly raffle. For details about how to check out books at MVMS, click here.

At Summit Trail, students may place up to two books on hold by the end of the day each Tuesday, for pick up that Thursday. Pick up times are from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays. For details about how to check out books at STMS, click here.

The Tahoma Community is invited to attend the virtual meeting of the School Board for its annual planning meetings, which will be conducted this year via Zoom. The full-day planning sessions will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 17. To attend virtually, send an email to TSDMessages@tahomasd.us requesting the links.

The topics that will be discussed include work to create a shared vision that will guide the next five years of focus and targets, the annual board reorganization, scheduling the work study sessions for the 2020-2021 school year and more.

As a reminder, entries are being accepted now for the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Voice of Democracy essay contest. This year’s theme is “Is This the Country the Founders Envisioned?” The contest is open to students in grades 9-12.

At THS, teacher Allison Agnew is the contact for any student with questions. In general, students received details about the contest in their English and/or Social Studies classes earlier this year. To participate, students must follow the requirements listed on this form (also, please print, fill out the form and drop it off at the THS office for Agnew). Additionally, students should share their written essay in a Google Doc with Agnew, as well as recording it in their own voice as an audio file, save it to their Google Drive and share that with Agnew.

In a “normal” school year, we know that it can be difficult to keep track of school emails, announcements and information, particularly for families that have students at multiple buildings. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, it has been more difficult than usual, both for families and staff members receiving the high volume of emails and calls, and also for the buildings and district staff sending out information.

Parents and guardians: Please make sure your emergency contact information is current in the Skyward Family Access system. If you need to update, change or remove phone numbers, contact the registrar at your child’s school.

We also acknowledge that the same methods of communication don’t work for everyone. With that in mind, here’s a list of some of the ways that we communicate and share information:

If you have questions, please contact us directly. Reach district representatives via phone at 425-413-3400 (or Transportation at 425-413-3220), via email at TSDMessages@tahomasd.us or via private message on our Facebook page.

The Tahoma School District is hiring for substitute bus drivers, substitute custodians, substitute school nurses, paraeducators, Extended Enrichment Program assistants, playground assistants and more. If you are interested in joining our team and helping provide Tahoma students with an excellent education, please visit our website here.

Or, for more information or answers to questions, call our Human Resources Department at 425-413-3444.

At its regular meeting on Oct. 13, the School Board: 

In recent years, Tahoma School District has hosted a flu vaccination clinic for families and staff members. This year, we have not been able to secure a date for a Tahoma clinic with the Seattle Visiting Nurse Association. General information about influenza ("flu") from Public Health -- Seattle & King County is available on their website here.

We're sharing a few possible places that you and your family members may be able to get vaccinated with a regular flu shot. Flu shots are free at many locations with insurance. This is not an exhaustive list.

King County Elections anticipates a record-setting 90% voter turnout for the Nov. 3 election. Here is useful information for voters, including significant dates and contact information:

Key Dates: 

• Register to vote! The simplest way to register to vote is to go online to VoteWA.gov. The deadline to register to vote online or return a paper registration form by mail is Monday, October 26. 

• To be eligible to register to vote, you must be a US citizen, a Washington State resident, and not under Department of Corrections supervision for a Washington felony conviction. To cast a ballot, you must also be 18 by Election Day. 

• Life is busy and creating a vote plan can help make sure you get your ballot in on time. Make a vote plan today so that you know when you’ll vote, who you’ll vote for, and how you’ll return your ballot. You can use the template available on the web: www.kingcounty.gov/depts/elections.aspx 

• King County Elections strongly recommends voting early in this election. Voting early means that you can rest easy on Election Day knowing that you did your part and it means that we are able to provide a more meaningful set of initial results on Election Night.

• If you don’t send back your ballot in the mail, return your ballot to a nearby Drop Box. Your ballot must be returned to a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day. 

• Ballot drop boxes are a secure and convenient way for voters to return their ballot. Constructed of half-inch thick steel, the boxes are bolted to concrete with steel bolts, with multiple locking mechanisms, no pry points, and equipped with tamper evident seals drop boxes.

• Just this month, King County Elections installed its newest drop boxes at the Black Diamond and Carnation libraries. There are 73 across the county, including one at Rock Creek Elementary School, 25700 Maple Valley-Black Diamond Road SE., and at the Hobart Store.

• Given the pandemic, King County Elections encourages those who don’t require assistance to vote from home to keep lines and crowds down and voters and staff safe. 

• There are Vote Centers in seven locations: Elections HQ in Renton, CenturyLink Field Event Center and the Dempsey Indoor Center on the UW Campus in Seattle, Bellevue College, Accesso Showare Center in Kent, the Federal Way Performing Arts Center, and Kenmore City Hall. 

• The Renton Vote Center — at King County Elections’ headquarters — will be open throughout the voting period and all other locations will be open on Saturday, Oct. 31, Monday, Nov. 2, and Tuesday, Nov. 3. 

Meals are being served curbside, free to Tahoma students and any children 18 and younger, via a USDA program, at Lake Wilderness Elementary and Tahoma High School. For times and other details, click here.

To check out what's on the menu, click here.