Back to School
Blaine School District 2003/2004

Superintendent's Welcome
by Dr. Mary Lynne Derrington

I am honored to be chosen as the new superintendent of the Blaine school district. My first two months have been rewarding. I�ve had the opportunity to meet many of you, gain knowledge of the community and become familiar with the schools and staff. If there is one enduring impression I�ve formed from these connections, it is that education has a high priority in Blaine. Everywhere I go I hear expressions of deep respect and high regard for the schools and the people who work in them. Moreover, the Blaine school district is recognized statewide for providing a quality education and first-class facilities for our young people. All of this is possible because of the generous and widespread community support that is a tradition in Blaine. We have both exciting and challenging times ahead. Our highly skilled staff are eager and ready to help our young people reach even higher standards in education but they�ll do so with less resources due to state cuts, federal mandates, and increasing costs. We are confident however that our educational team is up to any challenge and will keep the best interest of students as our top priority.
I look forward to meeting many of you as we continue the tradition of excellence in the Blaine school district. We invite you to see the newly remodeled and expanded school campus by calling for tour dates and times. We ask you to watch the progress of the last project approved in the 2000 bond, which is an Education Service Center on H Street. It will house our dedicated support staff and our school board meeting area. These are the folks who work in the background providing necessary services to keep operations going strong.
I extend our very warm wishes to students and parents and community for a successful school year and look forward to working with you.

Blaine High School
by Blaine high school principal Dan Newell

We are anxiously awaiting the return of staff and students for the 2003/2004 school year. With the new school year comes many new and exciting additions to our campus, staff and curriculum. For all of us, few things are more important than the new knowledge, skills and attitudes that are nurtured during the high school years. Our mission is to provide an environment where students will become competent and responsible citizens, able to contribute to the total well being of self, family and community, thereby enjoying productive and self-satisfying lives.
In establishing our mission we have developed an educational philosophy. We believe:
�All students can learn.
�Students are the center of the educational process.
�Students learn best in a safe, orderly and inviting environment.
�Parent involvement and support enhances the teaching and learning process.
�Students should have equal access to educational opportunities.
�Students have the responsibility to be active learners.
�Educational experiences should enable students to learn to communicate effectively, solve problems competently, think critically and creatively and act responsibly.
�Education is the shared responsibility of home, school and community. Please help us by staying involved with your son or daughter�s education on a daily basis, sending a clear message that learning is important. We appreciate your assistance in making Blaine high school the wonderful place that it is for all concerned. Remember to check our website at www.blaine.k12.wa.us or be sure to stop into our offices with any questions or concerns.

Blaine Middle School
by Blaine middle school principal Randy Elsbree

Recent research suggests the human brain has two main windows of opportunity to attain new knowledge. The ages three to five, and 10 to 14 are considered vital development ages to grasp new information. At Blaine middle school we are excited to meet the challenges of educating 524 10 to 14-year-olds in this window of development for the 2003/2004 school year.
Our mission provides us with a guiding philosophy and belief system which we live by every day! At BMS we look forward to working with parents as partners and believe parents can determine the level of success their children will have.
Suggestions for parents to guarantee success in school at BMS:
1. Spend a minimum of five minutes a day talking to your student about their day in school.
2. Attend school every day on time.
3. Get plenty of sleep and eat a healthy breakfast (middle school students may need up to ten hours of sleep).
4. Set a consistent time and quiet place to work on schoolwork at home and ask if they have any homework on a daily basis.
5. Introduce yourself to your child�s teacher(s) and communicate immediately over successes or concerns utilizing email www.blaine.k12.wa.us, phone 332-8226 or write a note in the planner.
6. Attend sixth to eighth grade open houses, September 16 at 7 p.m., student led conferences, music concerts, athletic events.
7. Ask your child about their friends and get to know them and their parents.
8. Encourage your child to get involved in school activities; i.e. drama, student leadership, sports, history day, young authors, natural helpers, conflict managers, recycling, spelling and geography bees, and the math olympiad.
At BMS we have 91 � 95 percent of our parents attend our student-led conferences twice each year. We are looking to achieve 100 percent for the 2003/2004 school year. We look forward to seeing all our students on August 27.

Blaine Elementary School
by Blaine elem. school principal Deb Cummings

Yes, it is that time of year! Remember when you were a child and school was about to start? I do! Even though money was tight for our family, fall was the one time of year when my brother and I got new clothes and we got to pick out school supplies. Back to school shopping was so much fun! (If you do it at Bellis Fair, be sure to have your receipt stamped for Blaine elementary school. Our school could earn $1,500.) Seeing all those friendly faces again was very exciting. My friends and I would head to school with high anticipation. Would this grade be harder than last year�s? Would Mrs. Scott give us more homework than Mrs. Wallace did? Once we got to school we noticed so much the same except Mrs. Beifer got a hair cut and Mr. Sims grew a beard. May we capture the spirit of the start of the school year and make it last at least until June 9!
The greatest change you will notice at BES is the results of our most recent construction. I can�t wait to see the faces on our 425 students as they first walk into our school. I can hear the comments now, �cool!� and �wow!� Parents, I believe your reaction will be much the same. Know this modernization is thanks to our most recent bond, which the voters of Blaine passed with flying colors.
For the 2003-04 school year, BES will have 19 classrooms. Our average class size is projected to be 23 students. Due to cuts at the state and federal level, homework center, after school tutoring, the 4:15 p.m. bus, and summer school will not be offered unless we find a creative way to fund these programs. We will have before and after school enrichment programs, but due to these same cuts, you may notice a significant increase in tuition. You will notice various cuts across the district, which is very sad.
The expectations of schools and standards are greater than ever, yet the funds are decreasing. We need to hold our politicians accountable for supporting education, which is one of the three top priorities of the American people! Swing by or give me a call if you would like some ideas on how. As principal at Blaine elementary school, I expect everyone to work hard and have fun! Our priority is to educate students in a safe place. Everywhere I turn, every education article I read repeat two things: involved parents mean successful students and students who read daily succeed. Imagine the success of every child at BES if every parent was respectfully involved in their childs� education and every child read a book of interest for at least 30 minutes a day.
Important information:
It is a great idea to deposit money in your child�s lunch account and pick up a planner/three-ring binder/folder before school starts to avoid the long lines on the first days of school. If you wish to save time and money, come by the school starting August 18 and buy a prepackaged school supply pack from our Parent Involvement Committee. Please help to keep our school safe by signing into the office whenever you visit. Please make arrangements for your child to arrive to school on time, but not too early, as there is extremely limited supervision before school. Nine a.m. is ideal. If your child is going to be absent you must call the school office to inform us. When they return a note or phone call is required.
Again I hope you enjoy your final days of summer and I hope you are as excited about the start of school as I was in third, fourth and fifth grade. See you on August 27!

Blaine Primary School
by Blaine prim. school principal Nancy Bakarich

Welcome to the 2003/2004 school year. We at the primary school are excited for the start of this year, as our covered play area and the new pod to the building are complete. With the additional space we will be able to expand programs to best meet the needs of all our students. We hope that you will stop by for a tour of our new facility.
We have some staff changes we would like to let you know about: Racheal Super will be joining us in second grade, transferring from the middle school; Robin Wenderski will be teaching first grade and she is coming to us from Point Roberts primary school. New to our district are Krista Deming who will be teaching first grade and Connie Messom who will be teaching kindergarten. We welcome our new staff members.
Each grade level will consist of six classes with the average of 22 students per class. We are able to maintain our small class size by the continued commitment of small classes from our school board � thank you!
We feel very fortunate to have the continued support of our parents and community. Please feel free to visit and/or volunteer in the school, whether you have children in our building or not, we would love to have your assistance. We are committed to a high standard of excellence and know that we need your assistance to achieve this goal.
We are looking forward to this year and would like to remind you of some safety issues. When dropping off or picking up your children in front of the school, please remind them to look both ways as cars don�t always see our little ones. Also please use the parking area next to the sidewalk as a drop off area only. There is additional parking in the rear of the building and the doors are open on both sides of the office. Also please be aware that there is no supervision on the playground until 8:45 a.m., so if you could avoid dropping your child off prior to that time it would be appreciated.
Blaine primary school will hold a kindergarten Meet the Teacher Night on Monday, August 25 from 6 � 7 p.m. This will be a perfect opportunity to decrease the first day of school jitters and meet your child�s kindergarten teacher. At 6:15 p.m., your child�s kindergarten teacher will meet with parents in the classroom to discuss important information regarding the school year while children have a story time in the library. You can purchase lunch/milk tickets in advance at the office. Lunch prices are $2 each and milk tickets are $10 for 25 milks or $4 for 10 milks. Please note that first and second grade classes will have an open house on September 25 at 6 p.m. I am looking forward to a great year. On behalf of the staff and myself, we are looking forward to August 27 and the start of another great year here at Blaine primary school!

Who to Call

SCHOOL DISTRICT
• Administrative Offices 332-5881 Fax 332-7568
• Point Roberts Primary School 945-2223
• Blaine Primary School 332-1300
• Blaine Elementary School 332-5213
• Blaine Middle School 332-8226
• Blaine High School 332-6045
• Family Service Center 332-7179
• Food Services, Laurie Pike 332-0468
• Maintenance, Jim Kenoyer 332-6613
• Special Education 332-5213
• Transportation, Carl Wagelie 332-8933
• Superintendent Dr. Mary Lynne Derrington

For e-mail and more information, please check the school website at
www.blaine.k12.wa.us

Back to Top