The Scoop: Community Updates, Friday Night Lights

Dear OHPS Community, School districts across the State of Washington, including Oak Harbor Public Schools, are facing budget reductions going into the 2024-2025 school year. Despite our best efforts and the successful reduction of approximately $5 million in expenditures last year, we continue to grapple with long-term budget impacts due to declining enrollment, increasing operating expenses, and insufficient state funding.  As a need to ensure long term fiscal sustainability, we are projected to reduce another $3.8 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. To navigate the budget challenges, we established a Small Teams Budget Advisory Committee, which included labor partners, parents, a student, administrators, and district leadership, to provide input on our decision-making on potential reductions.

Empowering Students. Growing Together. #OneOakHarbor Thank you to the more than 200 people in our #OneOakHarbor community who voted to select our new Promise Statement/Tagline for our new Strategic Plan that will be implemented beginning next school year. Our new tagline will be "Empowering Students. Growing Together. #OneOakHarbor" We are in the final stages of the Strategic Plan creation process and will be sharing an update very soon with the community with more details!

We are in the final countdown until the Class of 2024 graduation! The full #OneOakHarbor community is invited to cheer on our graduates during the Friday Night Lights car procession on June 7 in downtown Oak Harbor. Please line along Pioneer Way and Bayshore Drive to cheer on our graduates and share your support!

Oak Harbor Public Schools is excited to host the 11th annual Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Monday through Friday, June 24 through August 16. SFSP is a federally funded, state-administered program designed to serve free meals to all children 18 years and under during the summer season. No sign-up or registration is required.  Visit www.ohsd.net/SummerMeals for more information, including locations and times.

Skagit Valley College's Early Childhood and Assistance Program (ECEAP) preschool students were recently transported by Oak Harbor Public Schools to Oak Harbor Elementary, Olympic View Elementary, and Crescent Harbor Elementary for tours. The tours allow these early learners to experience the elementary school environment and prepare for the coming year! Learn more about enrollment for next year at our Enrollment Hub.

Exceptional Academy hosted ANEW of Tukwila for Forklift Certification Training. ANEW is an organization the focuses on equitable access, equity, and inclusion for those seeking non-traditional career pathways. ANEW instructors taught students the safety rules and operating procedures for using a forklift, followed by skills training and testing. All of the participating students qualified for a forklift certification that is valid for 3 years!

North Whidbey Middle School (NWMS) students received national recognition on May 18 when they were among the top four winners of the Space Medal of Honor Design Challenge. The inaugural design competition invited K-12 student teams from across the nation to create an exhibit for the Charles H. Coolidge National Heritage Center’s forthcoming Space Medal of Honor Gallery which is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 100 teams participated, including three teams from NWMS.  Excellent work to all of our students who participated in this one-of-a-kind opportunity: Winning Team with $5000 prize: Students Thorin Allen and Robert Brophy (pictured above), supported by Morgan Vice Finalist Team: Wesley Metzger, Austin Ray, Wolfgang Grube Second Round Finalist Team: Ethan Pullins and Izzy Johnser The Oak Harbor High School Robotics team brought robots to Olympic View Elementary for interactive demonstrations. Thank you to the Robotics team for showing students how robots work!

Oak Harbor Intermediate School's Pitch Perfect Panthers Show Choir and Drama Club performed “Slumber Party Mayhem” for peers and families this week. It was an absolute success and an unforgettable experience! These Panthers have spent hours of hard-work and dedication to perform their best. Thank you to Ms. Hall, Mr. Wagner, and Ms. Geer for inspiring our students to put on an amazing show and making the event possible. Oak Harbor High School students had the opportunity to visit the Skilled Trades Career Fair to hear from experts in several different trades. Some examples of careers available were law enforcement, dog grooming, welding, construction, etc. Students were able to discover careers they may not have considered before, learn how to get involved in these careers, as well as what day-to-day operations look like in each career. “It amazed me how many companies offer internships and it opened my eyes for more opportunities to get involved in,” shared Alysah Bosch ‘26.  Reporting by Emelyn Payne ‘26; Photography by Ana Kettlewell ‘26, Faith Haley ‘25, Kirra Esparza ‘25, and Sidney Louis ‘27 Third graders at Oak Harbor Elementary have been working on their modeling clay self-portraits. This project is very involved in practicing seeing and drawing facial features, first with proportion and then in detail. Then they focused on using that drawn portrait as a reference for their relief clay selfie. Girls golf returned from the state championships with an 8th place finish. Twenty teams participated in the team format and 140 total golfers. Also given out this week were all league honors. just as they have done all year Oak Harbor dominated the competition. The Wildcats placed their top 6 golfers on either the 1st or 2nd team All-NWC. A strong and consistent season propelled sophomore Scarlett Nations to be selected as by the Northwest Conference coaches as the Most Valuable Player for the 2023-24 season. Get the latest athletics news on the Athletics website. Oak Harbor Public Schools will be closed on Monday, May 27, in observance of Memorial Day.

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