Cougar Chronicle: October 2025

As we head into the second month of the school year, we have so much to be proud of at Clyde Hill Elementary!  We have welcomed many new students and families from preschool all the way through 5^th grade.  It was wonderful to see so many of you at the PTA Family Bingo Night on Friday, September 26^th.  At the end of the night we had distributed nearly 500 sets of bingo boards meaning we had nearly 500 people in attendance – WOW!  Even more miraculous – we had enough pizza!!!  A huge shout-out to our PTA for kicking our year off with such a great event bringing our community together!

If you attended Bingo Night and enjoyed meeting your neighbors and making new connections or were sad to have missed it, mark your calendars as the next BIG event will be the PTA “Trunk or Treat” in the Clyde Hill parking lot on Friday, October 24^th.  This will be our warm-up to Halloween, a test-run for the costumes, and a chance to figure out which candy is your favorite from your children’s candy haul. 

At school, a focus for staff is on safety – physical safety and emotional safety.  For physical safety we are completing two critical trainings with our district safety team.  The first training is focused on identifying and responding to suspicious activity around our school.  The second training with the district safety and security team focuses on our school’s response in an active threat situation.  Again, this is training that the staff is engaging in, not students.  The third component of this training focuses on emotional well-being and safety and centers on the topic of microaggressions.  This is a critical topic as we strive to build a strong sense of belonging in a diverse community.  Additionally, October is the month where we participate in Washington state’s Great Shake-Out Earthquake Drill where we practice how to “Drop, Cover, and Hold” in the event of an earthquake as well as the steps we would take in the moments after the shaking initially stops – how we assess the situation and the decisions we will make.  This event will occur on 10/16 at 10:16 am. 

Connected to our focus on safety in October is our work as a staff to decrease the behavioral incidents among students that increased during September, specifically students being physically aggressive with one another.  In our younger grades teachers are reviewing recess expectations and co-teaching these with our recess teachers.  Our goal is to improve our students’ ability to use other problem solving strategies when they become frustrated with peers.    

As we move into October classrooms are also delving deeply into their academic learning.  As classroom routines become more established, teachers are adding to the activities that students are engaging in.  One of the new learning activities this year for all of our students beginning in kindergarten is iReady, an online learning program that both assesses student learning and provides individualized instruction in reading and math.  At this time our students have completed the initial assessment at the beginning of the year, and students are beginning their individualized instruction.  This individualized instruction is in addition to our core instruction in reading/writing using the ARC curriculum and math in which we use the Imagine Illustrative Math curriculum.  The following information was shared by the Bellevue School District Teaching and Learning Department about iReady:

i-Ready Assessment and Personalized Instruction - Program and Scores Overview

This year for primarily grades K-8, Bellevue School District transitioned from STAR to i-Ready as our districtwide diagnostic and instructional tool for reading and mathematics.

i-Ready is an online program designed to support students’ learning throughout the year. It helps educators identify each student’s individual needs, personalize instruction, and monitor progress. The program has two main components: Diagnostic Assessments and Personalized Instruction.

Please note that scores may look different from what families have seen in the past. This is expected, as i-Ready uses a different set of measures and provides a more comprehensive picture of student learning. These results do not affect your student’s grade or their access to their current course/grade-level learning. Instead, i-Ready will be a powerful resource to strengthen and support students in both reading and math. Score reports will be available in ParentVUE late October.

Refer to these resources as you view your student's reports as needed:

• Understanding Your Student’s i-Ready Diagnostic Results (PDF)  
•  Understanding Your Student’s i-Ready Diagnostic Results in Multiple Languages (PDF)  
•  Understanding i-Ready Diagnostic for Families ( 2 minute video)  
• Understanding i-Ready Diagnostic for Families in Multiple Languages (2 minute videos)  

To learn more about i-Ready and how you can support your student at home, please visit BSD Launches i-Ready Assessment and Personalized Instruction for K-8 or our Assessment Information webpage.

 

Attendance Matters Fall Update: Every Day Counts

Here we are! The first several weeks of the 2025–2026 school year are complete. The excitement (or nervousness) of the first day is behind us, and we are settling into a rhythm.

Did you know that chronic absenteeism means missing just 10% or more of the school year? That’s just 18 days total, or only 2 days per month!

It doesn’t matter if the absences are excused or unexcused — they all add up. And this is why attendance is one of the Bellevue School District’s key focus areas this year.

Why Attendance Matters

• Half of the students who miss 2–4 days in September go on to miss nearly a month of school by year’s end.
• Kindergarten and 1st-grade students who miss 10% or more of school show up to a 5% drop in academic progress on average.
• Students chronically absent from Pre-K through 2nd grade see their reading scores drop by more than 26%.
• By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes the leading indicator of high school dropout.
• On the positive side, when students improve their attendance, graduation rates increase by up to 28%.

What Families and Students Can Do

• When you have an appointment, attend school for the part of the day you are available.
• Use the “Too Sick for School” guidelines to decide if your student should stay home.
• Partner with your school counselor, IEP team, or administrator if your student is struggling with school attendance.
• Avoid scheduling trips or vacations during the school year.

Bellevue School District’s Attendance Goal

This year, the district aims to:

• Reduce chronic absenteeism by 1–2 percentage points for all students
• Reduce it by 2–3 percentage points for underserved groups (Black and Hispanic students)

What We’re Doing

• Proactive family and student outreach and partnership
• More consistent and accurate recording of attendance in alignment with district policy
• Stronger parent communication and engagement
• Ongoing school supports that include extra help for students and early signs to catch challenges before they grow.
• Development and implementation of clear intervention decision rules

You may notice a stronger focus on attendance this year, and it might even feel like there’s more urgency, a greater pressure. That’s because regular attendance is one of the biggest factors in a student’s success. When students are in school consistently, they build stronger relationships with teachers and friends, keep up with learning, and feel more confident. Our shared goal is simple: helping every student thrive — academically, socially and emotionally.

If we work together, we can make a lasting difference. So, here we are — let’s keep showing up.

 

Applications for Advanced Learning Services Now Open for 2026-2027

Applications for Advanced Learning Services for the 2026-2027 school year are open now through October 10 at 4:00 p.m. for students currently in grades 1 to 11. Please note that this is an earlier date than in previous years.

 

About Advanced Learning Services

Bellevue School District's Advanced Learning Services provide identified students with academic services at an advanced level and accelerated pace. Instruction is designed to meet students' cognitive and academic needs at the appropriate level. Centered program services begin in second grade at select schools. Domain Specific services are available to students in grades 1-10 at all schools. We welcome you to consider Advanced Learning Services for your student.

Who Should Consider Applying for Advanced Learning Services?

Students in need of Advanced Learning Services have an exceptional ability to learn and reason beyond their same-age peers. These children exhibit a high ability to make meaning out of complex concepts or problems.

You may want to consider applying for services for your student if you have noticed these characteristics:

• advanced vocabulary for their age
• strong reading skills two or more grade levels above current grade in school
• demonstrates high interest in numbers at an early age
• is imaginative
• finds interesting solutions to problems
• understands information quickly
• may prefer to interact with adults or older children

Apply Now!

Visit the Advanced Learning Services webpage to learn more about Advanced Learning Services and to apply for your student.

Please note that if your student is currently receiving Advanced Learning services, there is no need to re-apply. All kindergarten, 2nd and 5th graders enrolled in the district will be considered automatically for Advanced Learning Services through our universal screening program.

   

  

You're Invited: Learn About BSD's Sustainability Efforts!

Join us on Wednesday, October 8, from 4–6 p.m. in the Rainier Room at the Wilburton Instructional Service Center (12241 Main St, Bellevue, WA 98005) to learn more about the work of the Bellevue School District Sustainability Committee.

This is a great opportunity for staff and community members to:

• Explore the district’s sustainability initiatives
• Engage in conversations about environmental stewardship
• Learn how to get involved — the committee will be adding new members this year!

No RSVP required — just bring your curiosity and passion for a greener future.

 

Update Your SchoolMessenger Preferences for Important Notifications

BSD uses the SchoolMessenger communication notification system to send districtwide messages and urgent alerts such as school delays and closures. Families may receive SchoolMessenger communication via phone call, text message and email. You do not need to create an account to receive notifications, as you will automatically receive them to the phone number and email address listed in your student’s record.

However, if you choose to set up a SchoolMessenger App account, you may adjust how you prefer to be notified. You may also view messages from the last 30 days online or by setting up the app on your IOS or Android smartphone.

Important: Families should sign up with the same email address used for Online Student Data Verification through Synergy ParentVUE.

 

We are excited to settle into the deep learning that October brings, and we look forward to seeing you at Clyde Hill Elementary soon!

 

In partnership,

Amy MacDonald

Principal, Clyde Hill Elementary School

 

The Bellevue School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts of America and other designated youth groups.

The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:

Civil Rights, Racial Discrimination, and Gender Expression or Identity Discrimination:Civil Rights/Nondiscrimination Compliance Coordinator Nancy Pham, 425-456-4040 or phamn@bsd405.org

Sex-based Discrimination, including Sexual Harassment:Title IX Coordinator: Jeff Lowell, 425-456-4010 or lowellj@bsd405.org

Disability Discrimination:Section 504/ADA Coordinator: Karen Dejong, 425-456-4277 or dejongk@bsd405.org

Mailing address for all three: 12111 NE 1st Street, Bellevue, WA 98005.