Principal Communication

Lawton Families - Spring has sprung! Hope you are enjoying the gorgeous weather, and there was a wonderful buzz in the air last week at Lawton as we focused on STEAM (and Pi/pie!). We are so grateful for the gracious support of the PTA, parent volunteers and passionate staff to make the events of this week possible, and this week really showcased how powerful the partnership between our school and family community is at Lawton. Our celebration of science, technology, engineering, art and math is a Lawton tradition that helps promote academic enrichment, innovation, and inquiry for students at all grade levels, and we loved seeing the creative cardboard challenge entries, math challenge sheets and focus on learning

Dear Lawton Families, Last week the Magnolia and Blaine communities were notified that a man in a car had approached students walking on the sidewalk and exposed himself to them. This incident was reported to SPD by parents, but it is now the 2nd time since January that an incident of this nature has happened to SPS students in Magnolia. While I don’t want to upset you, it is important for you to know of these incidents so we can all be mindful about keeping children in Magnolia safe. Remind your student to always be aware of their surroundings and not talk to strangers or go anywhere with them. If you are looking for guidance and tips, these

Lawton Families, I hope you are all enjoying the Presidents’ Day Holiday today and have a wonderful mid-winter break this week! Arrival and Dismissal Reminders – as we return to school on Feb. 26 Morning Arrival: With later sunrises, we are excited to see more students walking to school in the morning. Safety Patrol is at the 27th and Elmore intersection from 7:40 – 7:55am to help walkers cross the street safely. Safety Patrol is staffed by our 5th grade students and either Lawton parent volunteers or Lawton staff. Please remember that when Safety Patrol is out that drivers are expected to follow and respect the directions from the adult supervisors at the intersection and obey the speed

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