Principal Communication

Lawton Families - I’m so impressed by our amazing students these last couple weeks – from Kindergarten students reciting a poem for their 3rd grade buddies, all 3rd grade students taking turns as fish biologists, monitoring the water and temperature of our Salmon Tank (and our salmon roe have turned into alevin this week – see the pictures below!), 1st and 2nd graders using graphing and models to demonstrate addition and subtraction concepts, to 4th and 5th student leaders speaking to prospective families about their experiences at Lawton at our recent Open Houses – everywhere I look, I see joy, confidence and engagement in our Lawton school community! School Budget Survey – one more chance to let us

Lawton Families, Wow – can't believe we’re already at the mid-year mark in the school year – it's been a great year at Lawton so far! School Budget Survey This is the time of year that our Building Leadership Team begins to plan for our programs, enrollment, staffing and budget for next year, and we aim to be responsive to the needs of our students with the precious resources we have available to us. With this in mind, I would love to hear from you, the Lawton community, about your priorities, suggestions, and ideas for what programs and services to fund next year in this brief survey that I will share with our BLT at our February 5

Lawton Families - I hope everyone had a relaxing Winter Break and happy 2024 to our Lawton community! We had a great first week of the new year last week, with our students happy to see friends and classmates after the break, our classes focused on new units of study, and our Newspaper Club publishing their first paper of the year! PE, Music and Assemblies I’m excited to see that in PE, Mr. Peters is adding Archery for 4th and 5th grades this year – those classes will be focused on that unit this month. PE classes will also be doing bicycle and/or roller blading units in the new year, so there is lots of fun for all

Lawton Families - As we head into the last week of school before our Winter Break, here are some announcements and reminders for you to consider: Elementary Progress Reports The EPR will be available on Monday, Dec. 18 in the Source - we only print the final progress report in June, so you can find the December and March EPRs online. Directions on how to access the Source are available on the SPS website. Inclement weather and device info This school year Seattle Public Schools again plans to shift to remote learning if there is inclement weather and buildings are closed. All students will bring home their district issued device over the Winter Break in case remote learning

Lawton Families, I hope everyone had an enjoyable short break last week! It was so wonderful to see families attending conferences with our staff last week, and our goal with conferences is open the door to really impactful two-way communication about all of our students over the course of the year. We have 1 week left in the first trimester of this school year, and then teachers will create progress reports in December that you will be able to view on the Source after Dec. 18. Shout Out to the Incredible Lawton PTA The PTA Direct Drive is still open until November 29, so please visit the website to contribute and fill out the Participation Survey (no donation

Lawton Families,   This week (11/13-16) our 5th grade students will be going to Islandwood Camp – which is a very exciting and a wonderful experience for Lawton students – but this does mean that there will be no Safety Patrol at 27th and Elmore while they are gone. We’ll do our best to have a staff member at the intersection, but please exercise caution and patience with car drop off, walkers crossing streets, and biking to school this week.   Family Conferences  Please note that the week of 11/20-24 there is no school for Elementary-aged students in Seattle Public Schools. Middle and High school students do have school on 11/20-22, and all students have no school 11/23-24

Dear Lawton Families, I’m really enjoying popping into our classrooms and learning spaces the last few weeks, and seeing our students excited about what they are learning! From Kindergarten students writing their first stories, first and second graders working in small groups on math practice problems, third graders learning about the life cycle of salmon both in the library and in the classroom, to fourth and fifth graders starting their Wednesday clubs (dance, newspaper, Student Union, & media study), and students in PE & Music learning songs and dances for upcoming school events, the school is abuzz with students driving their learning through their own choices and voice! This year our staff is using our professional development time

Lawton Families, It’s mid-October, and it feels like we are really hitting our stride at Lawton for the 23-24 school year: We’ve established a new routine of having a short weekly all-school assembly on Wednesday mornings, where we announce our weekly class WAVE winners and celebrate time together as a whole school. Students are taking fall assessments in reading and math, and our classrooms are focused on the early units of our various curriculums. On Wednesday afternoons, as well as last Friday, our staff gather to discuss student data and progress and how to adjust instruction to develop the skills of their students. PTA’s After School Enrichment and our own 4th and 5th grade Wednesday Clubs and Instrumental

Lawton Families - This is an "out of cycle" communication with some timely information for you: 1. School pictures were distributed to classrooms yesterday, so you will see the photo envelopes coming home this week. From the photographer: If you would like to view your students photos you may do so at: https://www.greyskypro.com/lawton Click on the 2023-2024 folder, the password is: 2324 Make Up day is scheduled for November the 3rd. Should you desire a retake of your child’s photo please let your teacher know. Original portrait prints must be returned. 2. With Halloween coming up in a couple weeks, I wanted to share the Lawton School policies and guidance on costumes and celebrations so you can plan

Lawton Families, It was so nice to see such a big turnout for our PTA Back To School Bash on Friday! We got lucky with the sunny weather, and I want to thank our amazing PTA for organizing this fun event! Dress for Weather – speaking of weather, it is that time of year when students will need to be mindful of dressing for cold and wet weather. Students play outside for recess for 30-45 minutes every day (which is a WA state law), so they should bring labelled outer wear every day. Labelled clothing is easily reunited with students – and do remember to check out the Lost and Found periodically (it is located in the gym/cafeteria