This week we welcomed back our staff with new employee orientations, professional development, a community-supported family picnic at the Blue Fox Drive-in, and our annual Staff Kickoff! The Cheer Off winners this year were the staff at Olympic View Elementary!

There is a lot to celebrate for the year ahead and our staff showed up with high spirits, ready to go!

Thank you to NWMS student Olive Coble for performing the National Anthem, student board representative Maggie Litvachuck for reading the student-created draft land acknowledgment, and Oak Harbor High School cheerleaders for bringing the spirit to our kickoff event.

Our community sponsors made it possible for us to celebrate together this week as we officially launch our new strategic plan and breaking ground on the construction of two new grant-funded schools: Tiger Construction, Bayley, McKenzie Realty, Guild Mortgage, DA Davidson, NAC Architecture, Varner Candle Company, and Honeymoon Bay Coffee Roasters! Thank you to our partners at Sodexo and our employee groups Oak Harbor Education Association, Public School Employees of Washington, and Oak Harbor Building Administrators Association.

View a few of the highlights from this week below!

Are you ready for the start of the new school year? Be sure to check out our Back to School Guide for important information!

Don't forget to use the hashtag #OneOakHarbor to be included in our first day of school gallery!

Have you talked with your school about ways that you can get involved? There are so many opportunities to participate in our schools - from classroom help to PTAs. Reach out to your school for details!