Pursuant to Presidential Proclamation, Gov. Inslee has directed that Washington state and United States flags at all state agency facilities, including schools and support buildings, be lowered to half-staff in honor and memory of General Colin Powell and his life of service.
Flags should remain at half-staff until close of business or sunset on Friday, October 22, 2021.
Other government entities, citizens and businesses are encouraged to join this recognition.
Everyday Heroes is a regular feature in this staff blog. We encourage staff to submit names of employees districtwide who have done something deserving of encouragement and praise. Give a shout out to one of your colleagues at your school or support building and watch for it to appear in an upcoming Everyday Heroes blog post.
How to nominate an Everyday Hero
All submissions will be posted in this blog on a weekly basis and archived each week.
Holiday wreath sales are open online on the Olympia School District Education Foundation website. Proceeds will help support all of the Olympia School District Education Foundation’s (OSDEF’s) programs: the Principal’s Emergency Fund, Mental Health Initiative and Teaching & Learning Grants.
The 22-inch locally sourced and created wreaths are $25 each and will be available for contactless pickup at either Capital or Olympia high schools on Sunday, Nov. 21 only. Pickup location is chosen at the time of purchase. Those who cannot pick up on Nov. 21 may send a designee.
While this fundraiser has typically helped offset the cost of outdoor education for fifth graders, this year, with the uncertainty of field trips due to COVID-19, sales will instead benefit other programs that support the Foundation’s mission to empower every student.
Questions? Contact OSDEF Executive Director Katy Johansson at (360) 596-6110 or katy@osdef.org.
On Wednesday, October 6, our community was invited to a 1-hour Zoom webinar hosted by the district to learn about the OSD Academic and Student Well-Being Recovery Plan and ask questions of the panelists: Superintendent Patrick Murphy, Executive Director of Student Support Ken Turcotte and Chief Academic Officer Hannah Gbenro.
View the webinar recording, which is also posted as a news story on the OSD website.
This is the first of planned monthly webinars to provide the community with updates about various initiatives and/or programs during the 2021-22 school year.
The next Zoom webinar is scheduled from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 3. We will share the topic and Zoom links in next week’s blog.
Thurston County health officials have announced new voluntary COVID-19 testing options designed to reduce the length of quarantine for an unvaccinated, asymptomatic student or employee identified as a close contact to a positive COVID case.
The testing options are outlined in a new Thurston County Public Health and Social Services (PHSS) flowchart for symptomatic students and staff posted on the county website on October 8.
In summary, the two new voluntary testing options are:
Students who become symptomatic at school or qualify for Test to Stay may access free COVID-19 rapid tests at their schools with parent/guardian permission. The COVID Rapid Test Consent Form is located in Skyward Family Access. Additionally, take-home Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests are available to students 18 years and older, and staff, who become symptomatic at school. This limited testing will only be available as long as there are testing supplies and staff capacity.
Be sure to get the latest health and safety updates on the OSD website.
The 2021-22 Olympia School District school year calendar has been updated to reflect that school is in session on Monday, January 3, 2022.
A previously published version of this calendar mistakenly stated that there was no school on January 3, 2022. The updated OSD school year calendar is available on our School Year Calendar page.
Please also be sure to update your copy of the OSD 12-month printed wall calendar to reflect that school is in session on January 3, 2022.
We apologize for the confusion.
Some images are difficult to describe succinctly. Images such as graphs or flow charts don’t lend themselves to simple interpretation, and can be concerning when approached from an accessibility standpoint.
In actuality, these complex images can be simple to make accessible. Rather than provide an alternative text tag, the author can include additional content alongside their complex image. This additional content not only enhances accessibility, but also improves the user experience overall.
When it comes to graphs or charts, the easiest and most accessible route is to provide a data table alongside the image. Take for example this graph showing the high and low temperatures across a week:
While the chart does well to show trends, the true numerical values are locked within the image itself. Including a corresponding data table is particularly helpful in conveying exact figures and ensures the data is accessible to all.
| Temp | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
High |
40 |
32 |
34 |
39 |
42 |
38 |
33 |
|
Low |
32 |
15 |
14 |
22 |
27 |
28 |
16 |
Doing this also enables users to copy and paste the data. A live example of this practice can be seen on the district’s 2018 Annual Report.
Another complex image type is a flow chart. Take for example this flow chart from the Capital High School Course Catalog:
Similar to the graph above, a flow chart can be challenging to describe in paragraph form. What can be included to enhance accessibility? In this case, the answer would be to include the flow chart in list form alongside the graphic. This flow chart could be displayed as:
Similar to the chart and table example, this simplified layout also allows for content to be copied and pasted later on.
By providing alternatives in these ways, we can work not only to enhance the accessibility of our content, but also the general usability.
As always, if you have any questions regarding creating accessible content, please reach out to the Communications Department.
The information in this blog post is being shared by the Teaching & Learning team with all staff, considering:
Do you know a student in kindergarten or 1st grade who:
If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, please consider referring the student for identification for Highly Capable Services.
Referrals may come from community members, teachers, other staff, parents/guardians and students. The referral window for students in kindergarten and first grade to be considered for Highly Capable Services is open now and will close at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 29, 2021.
If you have questions, please contact members of the Teaching & Learning team through our general email address: Knox-K12TeachLearn@osd.wednet.edu.
The Olympia School District is interested in getting feedback from employees regarding the use of technology in our district. Survey responses will be reviewed as the district plans for a request to voters to consider the renewal of its 4-year technology and safety levy, which expires in 2022. The deadline to complete this survey is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 12, 2021. We appreciate your feedback.
The employee survey link below is also posted in the OSD Staff Portal. Please also note that students in grades 5-12, and all OSD families, will be emailed a direct invite today to take the Technology and Safety Levy Input Survey. The student survey link will also be posted in the OSD Student Portal.
Please take Technology and Safety Levy Staff Input Survey
The Olympia School District has proclaimed October 2021 as Walk to School Month.
Superintendent Patrick Murphy read the proclamation during the September 23 school board meeting. It states in part that in October, children, families and community leaders from around the world will join together for Walk to School events “to increase awareness about the health and environmental benefits of walking and biking to school.”
The proclamation also states that families, school employees and community leaders “can make a lasting impression among our community’s youth by modeling fun, safe and healthy behavior by accompanying students on Walk to School events.”
International Walk to School Day is a global event celebrated every October with more than 40 countries walking and biking to school on the same day. This year Walk to School Day is on October 6, 2021.
When safe walking is available, students are encouraged to walk or ride bikes to school to improve their health, increase readiness to learn and learn about pedestrian safety.
We also want to remind motorists to slow down and observe the speed limit when driving in and around our schools. Thank you!
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