Principal Communication

Lawton Families, The 23-24 school year is off to a great start, and we loved having our Kindergarteners join us last week! We had our first weekly Wednesday all school assembly last week as well, and the whole student body sang a sweet song about Lawton that Ms. Kinder taught them in the first week of music; it was such a wonderful surprise that several staff found themselves so touched, they were wiping away tears. Lawton Open House (Curriculum Connections) is Tuesday, Sept. 19, from 5:30-6:30! The Lawton Staff welcomes students and families to come in the school, see our learning spaces, and meet our staff this Tuesday evening. The event will start in the Commons at 5:30

Lawton Families! Welcome back to the 23-24 School Year! I hope the summer break has been wonderful for all of you, and we very excited to launch the new school year at Lawton. Today was our first staff work day and we are busily preparing our classrooms and common spaces for your students. I have some brief items for you as we head into the new school year: Teacher Notification and Arrival/Pick Up Information All of our 15 classroom teachers will be emailing their families in the late afternoon on Thursday, August 31, with information about their teacher assignment and about their grade level arrival and pick procedures. Arrival change for this year - students in grades 3-5

Please Note: Dismissal is at 1:25pm (1 hour early) today! Lawton Families – I can’t believe it is already the last day of school! I have so enjoyed getting to know our families, your students and our amazing staff this year, and am looking forward to a great start to school in September (after a well-deserved summer break)! Progress Reports Paper copies were sent home on Wednesday with students, and Progress Reports are expected to be available on the Source in mid-July. Summer Learning There are lots of things you can do over the summer to keep kids growing and learning: take your kids to the library, read together, play outside, cooking, make art together, or tell them

Today is Field Day, and it is an amazing day for fun in the sun! Yesterday a 3rd grade student told me in the morning that she is SO excited for Field Day because it is her favorite day of the entire year; I think this is a very common sentiment at Lawton! I want to thank the PTA and all of our dedicated volunteers for making this joyful experience happen! I’d also like to thank our 4th grade parent Promotion Committee for all the work and energy they put into making our 5th grade Promotion event a warm and festive occasion. And big thanks to Ms. French, Ms. Kinder, our Talent Show student committee and our Talent

As we approach the end of the school year, we want to acknowledge that June marks more than just the end of another school year for some of our staff. Staffing Updates  Retirements: Both Elaine Cooper and Michael Matzner are retiring this year. We want to acknowledge their many years of service at Lawton, and the huge impact they’ve had on our students, staff and families. We were excited to see Mr. Matzner here at school yesterday for a brief visit and wish him the best in his retirement! A Note From Mrs. Cooper - Dear Lawton Families, I wanted to share with you how much I have loved being a part of Lawton for the last 15

Lawton 3rd – 5th grade students have been busy with state testing and K-2 students are starting testing soon. Everyone has a role to play in making testing season successful, low anxiety, and efficient. Families can help us by: Getting students to school on time and avoiding early dismissals; Sending students with a water bottle and snack every day; and Practicing good evening and morning routines so that students are rested and have a healthy breakfast on board when they arrive each day. Book Drive vs. Book Swap Book Drive– Online Only. The book drive is a library fundraiser that takes place entirely online. It’s on now and you can participate here: https://www.btsb.com/sosl/lawtonelementary1/wishlist/ Book Swap (used book donations)

Our staff felt so loved this week! Thank you for all the generous and creative and thoughtful ways you showed your appreciation. It is a treat to end the week with a gorgeous day for our annual Move-A-Thon! We love seeing students show off the endurance and coordination skills they practice in PE and demonstrate grit and perseverance in the face of a challenging event. Special thanks to over 100 volunteers who supported today’s event. Wanted: Book Donations (three ways) We are gearing up for lots of literacy fun. Here are some optional ways to support our efforts: Lawton Library Book Drive 5/15 – 6/15. We are doing a book drive to replace favorite titles, add student requests,

Thank you to everyone who helped make last Friday’s Movie Night a success! It is always fun to have families gathered in the school for special events and we appreciate all the volunteers who work to them happen. We enjoyed celebrating students who walked or biked to school on Wednesday. We hope it inspired families to do more non-car commutes now that the weather is improving. Next week is Staff Appreciation Week in Seattle Public Schools. I feel incredibly honored to work with this amazing staff at Lawton! Our staff works hard to create a warm, welcoming, and safe school community that is focused on both the academic and social growth of all students. I’m impressed how our

Well, it’s official – I am honored and delighted to be able to stay at Lawton in the permanent position as Principal. I want to thank all the students, families, and staff who have shown me the ropes at Lawton and welcomed me so warmly these last months. I’m very excited for all the learning, joy, and collaboration that lies ahead, and feel so lucky to be part of the Lawton WAVE! I also want to give a huge shout out to Mrs. Cooper, Mr. Peters, and our amazing 5th grade students and teachers for a wonderful music concert this week that showcased their hard work and talents – it was a magical evening! Spring Refresh With the

April is National Literacy Month and at Lawton our staff and students have been highlighting books and poetry in lots of fun ways – from a book character scavenger hunt around the school, our dress like your favorite character day, to our wonderful “caught reading” photo bulletin board. Adding to this theme, next week we celebrate National Library Week. We are so grateful to have Audra Gallegos as our Lawton librarian at Lawton! She is dedicated to keeping our collection fresh and relevant for students, teaching research and inquiry skills, and developing our students’ love of reading. Your plans for next year (K – 4th grade families only) It’s the time of year when we are planning for