Garfield Elementary School

The Olympia School Board has proclaimed February 6-10 as Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. ​ Board President Darcy Huffman read the two-page proclamation at the January 26, 2023 board meeting. ​ The school board proclamation states in part that “our students have the right to be educated within a village committed to nurturing their courage and skills to confront personal, systemic and societal bias, while recognizing the many types of privilege that exist within our society.”

The Olympia School Board has revised its protocol for hearing public comment at regular board meetings. ​ ​Effective in January 2023, OSD students, speaking on any topic, and members of the public wishing to speak to the school board regarding an item on the meeting agenda, will be given priority to address the board during “Public Comment: Items related to the agenda” at the beginning of each regular board meeting prior to the meeting’s reports.

The Olympia School District is excited to announce the launch of the Equity Policy Stakeholder Focus Groups - a series of discussions and data collection to inform the development of our Equity Policy, which will be presented to the school board in Spring 2023.

Every January school districts across the state and nation honor their board of directors during School Board Recognition Month. ​ The Olympia School District recognized its school board with a special program near the start of the meeting on Thursday, January 12, 2023. The recognition began at 6 p.m. and was followed by the regular board meeting.

Interested in becoming a substitute paraeducator? The Olympia School District, like districts across the region, state and country, is experiencing staffing shortages and a lack of substitutes. The following are some steps we have taken to mitigate our substitute shortage and related information:

Olympia School District has partnered with the Guaranteed Admissions Program (GAP) and two private universities which provide increased opportunities to attend college. For the GAP program, juniors will receive information, and seniors who qualify will receive guaranteed admission letters for up to seven Washington state colleges and universities. ​ In order for colleges to send acceptance letters, students must give permission to release student information for the purpose of higher education through Skyward Family Access.

Starting in January 2023, Olympia School District will offer a free full-day Transitional Kindergarten program. This new pilot program is designed to meet the needs of children who are going to kindergarten in Fall 2023, face barriers to kindergarten readiness, and are not enrolled in a regular early childhood program. Spaces are limited, so sign up now! Questions? Want to enroll your child? Call the Student Support Department at (360) 596-7539 or email [email protected]

The Olympia School Board invites students, staff, families and community members to stay informed about school district programs and initiatives by attending school board meetings in person or on Zoom. ​ Regularly-scheduled school board meetings are generally held on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are held in person at the Knox 111 Administrative Center Boardroom, 111 Bethel Street N.E., Olympia, WA 98506. Participants are also welcome to join the meetings on Zoom.

Every year, inevitably, snow or severe weather conditions lead to a delay in start times or the closure of our school buildings. We want to keep you updated about those decisions.