Effective on Monday, March 6, 2023, all doors leading into the Knox 111 Administrative Center will be locked during regular business hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The locked doors are consistent with security practices in Olympia School District schools, where entry doors are locked during the school day.

Staff may enter during regular business hours using their access card on the reader posted on the wall just outside the entry doors on the north side of the building’s front doors, as well as next to the Technology Department entry. If you forget your access card please ring the doorbell at the main front door entry, or knock on the Technology Department door.

Community members who have an appointment with or are seeking information from administrative office staff will be directed to ring a doorbell located on the north side of the building’s front doors (off 111 Bethel St. N.E., Olympia). The front desk receptionist will answer the doorbell.

Members of the public who need to meet with the Technology Department on the building’s lower level should knock on the door located near the parking lot next to the Knox building off Tullis Street. The door is at the top of an accessibility ramp with blue railings.

Be sure to click the link below for our most recent edition of the monthly Spotlight on Success district newsletter.

This issue is filled with articles, photos and videos about students and staff throughout the school district, including McLane Elementary School’s Jalissa Jones being named OSD Teacher of the Year, the Olympia Unified Pack the Gym event at Olympia HS, local Artist Nikki McClure’s virtual visit to McLane ES, and the launch of a Transitional Kindergarten program at Madison Elementary.

View Spotlight on Success

Governor Inslee is deeply saddened by the death of Washington State Department of Corrections Correctional Officer Jay Miller, 52, and directs that Washington State and United States flags at all state agency facilities, including schools and support buildings, be lowered to half-staff in his memory on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. Officer Miller died in the line of duty on Saturday, February 11, 2023.

Flags should remain at half-staff until close of business or sunset on Wednesday, February 22, 2023.

A memorial service will take place on February 22 at The Church for All Nations in Tacoma at 1 pm.

DATE: Saturday, March 4, 2023
TIME: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (Doors will open at 9:40 a.m)
LOCATION: Capital High School (2707 Conger Avenue, Olympia)

We would like to welcome the students and families from the Class of 2036 to join us at our annual Olympia School District ‘Countdown to Kindergarten’ event. This exciting and informative event is open to all parents/guardians who have children entering kindergarten for the 2023-2024 school year.

Parents/guardians and incoming kindergartners are encouraged to attend. Also, please feel free to invite your friends and neighbors. Families will have an opportunity to learn all about transitioning to kindergarten in our district. There will be a brief presentation followed by a period of time to meet and greet school staff, enjoy activities, climb on board a school bus and much morel

If you would like to enroll your student during the event, district staff will be on site to assist you.

For more information (or to RSVP) simply complete this Google Form. You are also free to call (360) 596-6113 should you have any additional questions. We hope to see you all on March 4!

The Hawk Foundation for Research and Education in African Culture is partnering with the City of Olympia to provide countywide African American educational programming.

The Foundation shared several upcoming free events that may be of interest to educators and students.

Javoen Byrd, executive director of The Hawk Foundation for Research and Education in African Culture, shared the following about the three upcoming events, which are also described in the accompanying photo:

• The first day will be a virtual lecture by Dr. Sylviane Diouf, February 16 from 1 – 2:30 p.m. Dr. Diouf is author of Slavery’s Exiles, a book on African American freedom fighters of the South who fought against slavery and created communities that resisted the enslavement. She is a professor at Brown University.
  • Register for Zoom lecture
• The second event will be a lecture at The Washington Center by Dr. Joy DeGruy, author of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. She will be discussing mental health equity in the Black community. This keynote is on February 17 from 6 – 8:30 p.m.
  • Register by February 15 (or until all spaces are filled) for this in-person lecture
• The last day will be a community celebration at The Olympia Center from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. with live performances.

The Olympia School Board has proclaimed February 6-10 as Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

Board President Darcy Huffman read the two-page proclamation at the January 26, 2023 board meeting.

The school board proclamation states in part that “our students have the right to be educated within a village committed to nurturing their courage and skills to confront personal, systemic and societal bias, while recognizing the many types of privilege that exist within our society.”

The proclamation goes on to state that “students have the right to engage in reflection and honest conversations in school communities on issues of social justice, equity, the intersectionality of oppression and the legacy of institutionalized racism and oppression that has plagued the United States since its founding.”

The Black Lives Matter at School campaign first began in Seattle in 2016 and has since spread across the nation.

• View the full Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action proclamation