As we kick-off the new year, we are extremely excited to announce that Okanogan Behavioral HealthCare (OBHC) is working with the Methow Valley School District to hire a full-time, on-site Mental Health Professional prepared to support our students and families. This aligns with our district’s vision – “Working in partnership with our families and community, we develop: curious, creative, compassionate, competent, action-oriented citizens prepared to change the world.”

The Methow Valley School District believes in promoting the social-emotional well-being of our students by providing increased student and family access to support systems that include district-wide counseling services. To accomplish this, the district has formed the Student and Family Support Team consisting of the two school counselors, Amy Faxon and Hannah Sands, the school nurse, Laura Brumfield, the school psychologist, Jim Cordell, the Youth and Family social worker, Melinda Boonstra, the Student Success Coordinator, Margell Callier and principal Deborah DeKalb. This team meets weekly to ascertain the needs of our students and they determined the need to add Mental Health counseling for our students. The team, with the support of superintendent Tom Venable wrote a letter to Skip Rosenthal, Chief Executive Officer of OBHC to outline the needs of our students. As a result, OBHC has agreed to offer a full-time counselor for our school district as well as the other districts in Okanogan County. We feel incredibly thankful to welcome a Mental Health counselor to the Student and Family Support Team.

If you are interested in applying, please contact Okanogan Behavioral HealthCare. They are seeking applications from qualified professionals to serve the Omak, Okanogan, Tonasket, Oroville, Brewster, Pateros, Grand Coulee and Methow school districts. Duties include individual and group counseling to youth population during the school year and summer months. Masters Degree in a Behavioral Science with 2 years experience treating mentally ill clients required, MSW preferred. Salary Range – $52,000 – $65,000 annually. Send cover letter and resume’ to: Okanogan Behavioral HealthCare – ATTN: Jessica Blake -1007 Koala Dr. Omak, WA 98841 inquire by email:jblake@okbhc.org.

OBHC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Dear Methow Valley Students and Families,

“When will we make up the snow day?” That is the question that typically emerges immediately following a “Snow Day.” As you may recall, we closed our schools on Wednesday, November 26th due to the significant amount of snowfall, power outages, downed trees, and hazardous driving conditions to ensure the safety of our students and families.

“Is our school district required to make up the school day?” That is the other question that often surfaces. Washington State RCW 28A.150.220 requires a 180-day school calendar for schools. Therefore, we are required to make up the missed day and believe our students are entitled to the services we provide.

That being said, our Calendar Committee has reviewed our options and determined that Friday, February 13 will serve as an Early Release Make-Up Day.

We anticipate some of our families may have pre-arranged travel plans scheduled during this time. If this includes you and you know your child will be absent, please assist us by notifying office staff of your child’s excused absence.

Sincerely,

Tom Venable

Thank you for your participation in the survey about refreshing our online communication tools. There were 54 individual responses which were almost evenly split between K-6 and 7-12.

Some recurring themes we heard from you as part of the refresh include:

• Schedules of academic and sports activities / clubs outside of school
• Timely updates of events
• Relevant and updated photos of school and student based activities
• Procedures and details for contacting MVSD staff
• Vision and plans/steps for achieving goals
• Lunch menus

28 responses indicated they would like to use social media to keep up on school current events, activities and changes.

26 responses indicated they would rather use the website than social media to gain information about school.

Our next steps will be to utilize the information generated from the survey to:

1. Establish policy and procedures for online communications
2. Identify district staff who will be creating and monitoring content
3. Relaunch our revised communication tools and seek ongoing feedback

Please provide any additional comments or thoughts we may have missed, Here.

Thank you,
Drew Simmons

Dear Methow Students and Families,

I hope each of you enjoyed an “extended” Thanksgiving Break! My guess is that it would be difficult for many of you to recall the last time school was closed in the Methow Valley. However, as you are well aware, due to the heavy snowfall, causing power outages and hazardous traveling conditions prior to Thanksgiving Break, I chose to close our schools.

As you can imagine, there is some risk in early notification – notifying staff and families that we are closing school the night before school. However given the adverse weather conditions, forecast, safety concerns, and disruption that changes in our school schedule creates for our families, it seemed like the right thing to do.

“When will we make up the Snow Day?” Of course, that is the primary question that immediately emerges for most…

In anticipation of this question, our district’s Calendar Committee has been working together to discuss possible options with the hope of communicating their decision prior to Winter Break.

Regardless of the option selected (identifying a make-up day within the current school year or extending the current school year), we anticipate scheduling conflicts will arise for those who already have pre-arranged travel plans. Anticipating this, we will work together to develop solutions to address the needs associated with students, staff and families that have pre-arranged plans.

Sincerely,

Tom Venable

Given last nights heavy snowfall resulting in downed trees, sporadic power outages, and hazardous driving conditions, we have chosen to close school on Wednesday, November 26th.

We have begun a process for refreshing our district and school building web pages. We are also pursuing and refining our use of social media as one of several ways we can communicate with different community and school groups.

Please provide your thoughts and suggestions at the link below by Monday, November 17.
Complete online survey »