Simpson for School Board

And now the work begins

Carolyn Simpson — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:42:35 +0000

After many days of continued ballot counting, I am now confident of my lead and ready to celebrate and get to work. I am humbled by the voters’ confidence, and I am excited about the opportunity to represent Snoqualmie and the entire district on the school board.

Now the real work begins. We have some significant challenges in the district, and we have some difficult decisions to make. During this work, I promise you that I will keep an open door, a listening ear, and a respectful demeanor. I will continue to use a blog and emails to keep all of you up to date on school board topics and meetings, and I look forward to you keeping me apprised of your opinions, questions, and concerns. It is a two way street. I also would love to utilize many of you to research issues and to help me explore decisions and alternatives during my four year school board term.

Even though I won’t be officially sworn in until January 12, I am starting work now. I am attending a district meeting on STEM today, and I will be attending a four day Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) annual conference in Bellevue starting Thursday. I look forward to the opportunity for this education as well as the ability to network with other school board directors from across the state.

Thank you again for your help in this successful effort.

Thank you!

Carolyn Simpson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:49:17 +0000

Thank you to everyone who supported this campaign with your time and efforts and, of course, your votes. I am humbled by your confidence in me, and I am excited about the initial returns posted last night. Although the lead appears to be compelling, there are more votes in the mail left to count. Should the lead hold, I look forward to working with other board members, the administration, teachers, and the community to brighten the future of all Valley students.

Thank you for your support and your votes!

Carolyn Simpson — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:29:09 +0000

To all of you who are filling in this oval: Thank you! It certainly is a humbling experience to have your support and your votes. With your continued help in getting the word out and the votes in, I hope to get elected so that we can work together for students all across the Valley.

My goals haven’t swayed: I continue to focus on raising the bar for student success, community planning, and transparency. For those of you who stand with me and support these goals – thank you from the bottom of my heart…… Carolyn

Congratulations AP teachers! Let’s now create district level goals!

Carolyn Simpson — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:35:21 +0000

Congratulations to Mount Si High School for being honored by for the second year in a row for increasing student participation in Advanced Placement classes. This is a result of the vision and perseverance of a small group of talented AP teachers and their drive for success. I ask you to think about the possibilities if we had district driven goals, priorities, and high expectations like these teachers had. We need to set high expectations for all students from kindergarten through high school, not just for the top performers. We need to ensure that this K-12 system results in keeping kids from dropping out and preparing all students to be successful in college and career training. Those are the key indicators of success for a school district. I believe that we need to put into place an action plan across the district, from K-12, to make sure this is our focus. Just think about the community engagement and celebration when we achieve that level of success. Just to be clear here: This is not to say that we don’t have teachers all over the district who are working in many different ways every day for success for students. Not at all. My point, is the same one I have been making since day one – we need district driven (top level) goals that are clear and measurable, that we can all get behind as a community of educators, teachers, and community members. With these goals, the district can prioritize decision making and funding where they are needed most.

Teamwork and Supporting Schools

Carolyn Simpson — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:44:01 +0000

I have a long and consistent record of important teamwork and service in our schools district-wide. In 2009, I was honored with the Golden Acorn Award from the PTSA Council for her service to the education community. Also, in 2009, on behalf of the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation, I accepted the Certificate of Merit from the Washington Association of School Administrators in recognition of outstanding community leadership and service to education and the young people of Washington. From 2002 to 2010, I served as a Board Member and then as Vice President and President of the this Foundation. Through my leadership and teamwork, I focused the Board’s efforts on funding and promoting district-wide initiatives which helped increase fundraising by 500% . That change resulted in raising $350,000 of funds for our schools over a five year period. From 2006 to 2010, I served on the Learning Improvement Team at Mount Si High School where I was a key parent leader. Among other initiatives that I helped develop, I was the catalyst for starting to improve college preparation, such as bringing the PSAT test into MSHS to encourage more students to consider college. In 2006 and 2007, I worked on the first Facilities Task Force in the district and worked full-time for months toward innovative solutions for capacity needs and bond promotion. I also enjoyed supporting music education in our middle and high schools through her work as a Music Booster, organizing many fundraisers, including working as a team to significantly enhance the annual MSHS Jazz at the Club.

I would like to bring these teamwork and leadership skills to the School Board.

Spiders and Snakes

Carolyn Simpson — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:31:07 +0000

No, I am not speaking of those who promote negative politics. I am actually talking about the perils of going door to door to thousands of homes across the district. Yes, if anyone saw this weekend, that was me trying to shoo a snake out of the street. By the way, snakes don’t really “shoo”. It was a beautiful long garter snake, and it was lolly-gagging in the middle of a sunny street. I knew it wouldn’t hurt me, but I just couldn’t pick it up. I did my best to hurry it along, and for anyone who saw it, I am sure you had a good laugh. And, my door to door work included walking through hundreds of spider webs; the spiders must be reaching across front porches to get those last few insects of the season. I had to bat many webs off my face, and then, as I was driving home, a spider crawled out from under my sleeve. Good times! Actually, the people I have met along the way have made this all worth it. Thanks to you all for your encouragement, support, and votes!

Opportunities to meet me and chat

Carolyn Simpson — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:38:22 +0000

I have just updated my calendar (look to the left on this page) with plenty of opportunities this week to come and meet me and chat about education. I hope to see you there. You can also reach me by phone or email. I want to hear from you.

We need a Strategic Plan and a District Report Card!

Carolyn Simpson — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:12:46 +0000

The school board must lead in this area. Like our neighboring districts, we must create a district-wide plan of goals and track performance. The SVSD does not do this; we have not established district-wide goals or measurements of success. I encourage you to ask for it, and please keep in mind that a mission statement is not a plan. We desperately need to establish goals and assess performance to monitor how well we are educating students and preparing them for today’s world. We can’t just celebrate when, for example, our SAT scores are above the state average. An example of a real measurement of success is to determine whether a higher percentage of students are taking the SAT or whether scores improved over the last 5 years. And, by the way the answer to that is NO. I believe that the school board must be the leadership that drives this process. This is not unusual, this is actually the most important job the school board should be doing. Check out my new page on this website at “District Report Card” for more information.

My commitment: Staying local

Carolyn Simpson — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 21:06:00 +0000

My focus is local, each and every day, all year. I have worked district-wide in many capacities to reach for higher expectations, stronger interventions, and better decisions in our schools that will impact all students. My other local commitments are as a Board member/Treasurer of the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce and as an active member of the City of Snoqualmie’s Economic Development Commission. This keeps me in the valley working on important issues to the entire community. I see education as key to a healthy and vibrant community. As more businesses and employment come to the Valley, there are more opportunities for partnerships and collaboration that could mean local field trips, high school internships, and career exposure to our young people. And more jobs mean a trickle down effect to the economy, which can help schools too. As a school board member, I have the local experience, and I will be able to devote the time and flexible schedule needed to listen to the public, build consensus across the community, and spend time in the schools and researching issues, all of which are important for good decision-making.

Enrollment is down or flat; No need to take away a middle school!

Carolyn Simpson — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:04:07 +0000

High school enrollment has declined and district-wide enrollment is almost the same as last year. I saw this coming, and I questioned the need for a $56 million bond earlier this year. Today, I am opposed to using the SMS building for the high school when there is no replacement middle school, because that would create significant middle school overcrowding and because it is not supported by high school enrollment needs. I have fully supported efforts for years to provide more interventions to help freshman students succeed, but, we do not need a separate building to do so. I believe we need to analyze enrollment again to determine when (and if) we will exceed capacity before making or continuing any major building use or bond decision. Our community and our kids deserve a better process.