Hello everyone! The 2021-2022 school year starts August 25. Please see the letters below from Principal Lori Smith and Superintendent Ann Varkados for important start-of-school year information!  The letters are also available as downloadable PDFs. 

Principal Smith's Letter

Superintendent Varkados' Letter

We want to be sure you have information on how to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment, should you choose to get vaccinated, or if you choose to have your child vaccinated. Adults and children 5 and older are now eligible for a free COVID-19 vaccination. A parent or legal guardian must accompany the minor.

As a reminder, COVID-19 vaccination is not currently mandatory for students.  Boosters are approved for everyone 18 and up and for those who've had the Pfizer vaccine, a booster is approved and encouraged for those 16 and up . For more information about COVID vaccinations visit www.cdc.gov.

Looking for COVID testing resources? Go here.

Current Vaccination Opportunities:

Ongoing Vaccination Clinics

As part of the Federally-funded “Vaccines for Children” (VFC) program, Skyline Hospital offers childhood immunizations at no cost. The Moderna COVID vaccine is available through the clinic for those 18 years old and older.

Schedule an appointment by calling 509-637-2810.

Other Local Vaccine Appointment Options Include:

• Your healthcare provider. If your regular health care provider has a waiting list or provided instructions for scheduling an appointment, follows those instructions.
• Klickitat County Health Department. Go to their website to sign up for your vaccination.
• Local pharmacies. Visit www.VaccineFinder.org to find pharmacies near you with vaccine.
• Visit Klickitat Valley Health’s Website. www.kvhealth.net
• Or call Klickitat Valley Health: 509.773.4029
• Check with North Shore Medical: 509-493-2133
• Washington Department of Health’s Vaccine Locator. Visit www.VaccineLocator.doh.wa.gov to find facilities near you with vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccines are free. If you have health insurance, you may be asked to provide that information. But if you do not have insurance, you will not be charged.

Starting the 2021-2022 School Year 100% In-Person, Safely

The State Department of Health, Governor Jay Inslee and OSPI have recently come out with revised mandatory guidelines for schools for the 2021-2022 school year. While we are still reviewing and working with the local health department to better understand what’s required, several points are very clear. 

Schools are required to reopen for the 2021-2022 school year with all students in the classroom for face-to-face learning. At this time, the state has indicated that remote learning is not an acceptable substitute for in-person learning. 

We Will be Wearing Masks

However, the new Delta variant is surging and easily transmissible, especially for people who are not vaccinated. So, given that most students are still too young to be immunized, the state has also mandated that everyone who enters a school building -- vaccinated or not -- must mask up with a properly fitting mask. 

We want to emphasize that this is a safety requirement mandated by the state Department of Health, OSPI and the governor: Masking in schools is NOT a local decision. It is out of our hands.   

Students will not be required to wear masks outside of the school at recess or while eating. However, distancing requirements will be in place throughout the school day. In general, three feet is the required distance, with some variations, like when kids are unmasked at lunch. 

What Other Measures Will the School Be Taking?

Lyle School will continue to follow safety protocols, including sanitizing surfaces nightly or when a child or adult has gone home sick; ensuring hand washing and sanitizing; and monitoring for signs of illness.

At this time, we are not required to do the more intensive screening at the start of the school day, but staff will greet students arriving for the day and provide hand sanitizer for their use. They will also be visually scanning kids for signs of illness like runny noses, a cough, flushed faces and so on.

We ask parents, as always, if your child shows any signs of being sick, keep them home. Otherwise, there's a really good chance you'll get a call to come get them right away.  

We Can Do This (Again)!

Lyle School opened in September last year, well ahead of the vast majority of school districts in the Columbia Gorge and across the State of Washington. We operated safely throughout the school year, with no outbreaks, thanks to the cooperation and support of our parents and community.  

With all of us working together, we can do the same again this year.

Lyle School Board Director Lisa Bren announced her resignation, effectively immediately, at the July 28 regular school board meeting. The board announced its intention to seek a replacement immediately.

Ms. Bren had filed to run for the seat, to which she was appointed last October.  However, due to a subsequent change of employment in her family, she is now moving from the area. State law calls for the board to appoint a replacement to serve for the remainder of this term, which runs through December of 2021. They will then again appoint an applicant to fill the first two years of the next regular four-year term.  The seat will again be open for election at the time of the next general election in 2023; the winner of that election will fill the remainder of the four-year term.

Per board policy and procedure 1114, all citizens are invited to apply or nominate candidates for the position. Applicants must be registered voters who reside anywhere within the Lyle School District limits; this is one of two at-large positions on the board.  When a nomination is received, the district will reach out and invite the nominee to apply.

The application form is available here.

Please submit your application by August 18, 2021. You can return via email to deb.stenberg@lyleschools.org or mail it to Lyle School Board of Directors, PO Box 368, Lyle WA  98635.

The board will interview the first round of applicants/nominees at the next regularly scheduled board meeting, Wednesday, August 25, 2019, at 5:30 p.m. in the school’s library at 625 Keasey Avenue, Lyle. The school board is currently meeting in person, with a Zoom component for those who aren't able to personally attend.

Please go to the school district website, www.lyleschools.org, for more information and a nomination/application form.

Lyle School secondary students are coming back for a second round of the Summer Fun & Learning Program in August, while elementary kids are finally getting in on the fun (and learning!)!  

• Elementary students in grades K-5 this coming year will attend summer school for three weeks, August 2 - 20, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Middle and high school students will attend Monday -Friday, August 9 - 20, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.    

In addition to plenty of great arts and science activities, kids will work on skills they need to be successful this coming school year.

At this point, the school is not taking new registrations for summer school.  If you signed your child up in June, we have a spot for him or her.  Bus schedules for summer school are on the website. Click on the bus icon on the main page, under the rotating banner or go to https://lyleschools.org/District/Department/8-Transportation-Department.

While the #LyleHillFire continues to require the state’s firefighting resources, Lyle School is serving as a home base for the state's Incident Command Team.

This is part of a long-standing agreement with the DNR and it’s not the first time we’ve had the company of these professional fire crews for a few days, or longer.

While Lyle School is serving in this capacity, we have closed our school offices to visitors. Students, parents, staff (except for the core summer team) and members of the general public should not come to campus. You can reach us by email or by phone 509-365-2211, ext. 120 (school office) or extension 100 (business office).

In addition, don’t come to campus to watch the firefighting efforts, please. There’s very little to see here right now, anyway, as the entirety of the firefighting efforts are now behind the crest of the hills. They can be seen better from other vantage points, further away, if you wish to watch.

In the meantime, how about joining the effort to thank these brave men and women who come from all across the state, and our own local volunteer firefighters who take time from their normal lives, on a daily basis, to protect our community?

Create a “Thank You Firefighters” sign and post it prominently where the crews can see it. The sign pictured was added to the fence around the Lyle Activity Center. Wouldn't it be great to see a wall of thank you signs? 

Looking for up-to-date information on this fire?  Here are some places to start:

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7662/.

There is also a phone number you can call: Fire Info Line: 509-761-4858.

Here are two dependable Facebook pages:

 Columbia Gorge Wildland & Fire Information Page and the Lyle Fire & Rescue Dist. #4 

History. Expectations. Perceptions. They can lift kids up. And, too often, they can sink kids' hopes. 

But, every once in a while, a kid comes along and listens to his own heart – and his mom. Joey Nelson was one of those kids.

He graduated from Lyle High School as valedictorian in 2007.

Today, the Yakama Tribal member is a Medical Doctor in residency at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The Columbia Gorge News shared his story in the June 23, 2021 issue.

You can read more about his experience as a small-town student finding his way through college and eventually into medical school on our Graduate Profiles page on our website.  

We're looking for more Lyle graduates to profile. Please email deb.stenberg@lyleschools.org with your suggestion. Make sure to include contact information!

The State of Washington required all public school districts to submit a plan for the upcoming school year in late May.  Lyle School has been able to offer hybrid education since the beginning of the school year in September and has steadily increased the number of in-person days for students as we safely progressed through the school year.  Our plan submitted to the state is as much a report on what we have been doing in the current school year as a statement of what we will be doing next year.

Review Our Academic and Student Well-being Recovery Plan here. See our 2021-2022 school year calendar.

Lyle High School Graduation Highlights

It was an historic school year, a year of uncertainty and hybrid schedules, preceded by a year cut short by COVID-induced mandatory school closures. Yet, the Lyle High School Class of 2021 survived, succeeded and even thrived.

The following awards and scholarships were announced at the graduation ceremony on June 5. To watch the ceremony, the celebratory video, view senior pictures and more, click here.

Class Valedictorian Astara Jensen plans to major in Psychology at St. Martin’s College in Olympia this fall. Astara was awarded three scholarships: The Beverly Ann Bryan Memorial Scholarship for $1,000; a Lions Scholarship for $750; and a Robert Halverson/Alumni Scholarship in the amount of $500. Staff also selected Astara for Science, P.E. and English Language Arts (ELA) Staff Excellence Awards, the Principal’s Overall Excellence Award. Astara received honor cords signifying a 3.0 or higher GPA in all classes in each of the following subject areas: English Language Arts, Social Studies, Spanish and Music/Arts.

Jack Bellamy and Madison Olson shared Salutatorian Honors, earning the same cumulative GPA.

Salutatorian Jack Bellamy plans to attend Washington State University in Pullman this fall, majoring in Astrophysics. Jack received the Staff Excellence Award in Math and this year posted the highest Math SAT score ever reported for Lyle High School. Jack also received Staff Excellence Awards in Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts, in addition to the Principal’s Overall Excellence Award. He earned honor cords in English, Science, Math, and Social Studies.

Salutatorian Madison Olson completed an Associate of Science degree while participating in the on-site Running Start program at Lyle High School. Madison’s goal is to enroll in a nursing program. She received the Staff Leadership Award, the Staff Excellence Award in Science, and the Principal’s Overall Excellence Award. Madison received the Beverly Ann Bryan Memorial Scholarship for $1,000, the Pam Oldenburg Scholarship in the amount of $1,000, the Lions Scholarship for $750 and the Robert Halverson/Alumni Scholarship in the amount of $500. She was an honor cord recipient in English Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and Spanish.

Brandi Vance will be attending the University of Idaho and majoring in Animal Science this fall. Brandi has already completed a two-year degree, earning an Associate of Science degree through her participation in the on-site Running Start Program. Brandi has been awarded the Evergreen Chapter #1 Order of the Eastern Star Scholarship in the amount of $400 and the Dooley Leah Rebekah Lodge Foundation Scholarship for $2,500. She received an honor cord in Spanish.

AnaLuisa Ortiz will be attending Idaho State University this fall. She received the Staff Citizenship and Leadership Awards, and the Principal’s Overall Excellence Award. Annie also received Honor Cords in English Language Arts and Spanish.

More: Malachi Bren received a Staff Excellence Award in Physical Education; Ky'ana Childers received a Staff Citizenship Award; Alexis Navarrete received a Staff Excellence Award in Social Studies and an honor cord in Fine Art. Harriman Palmer likewise earned an honor cord in Fine Art. Abraham Rosales, an honor cord recipient in Spanish, has recently been promoted to manager of The Dalles McDonalds. Jessi Nolan is pursuing plans to start a law enforcement career in Anchorage, Alaska.

KLASAC has a fun event coming up for little ones in the community, and their families. Sign up and receive a free book and activity set just like the one in the photo!

Then join friends and neighbors on Zoom at 6 p.m., June 23, 2021 to hear the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

To receive your book and activity set, fill out this form and return to Laura Bales at Klickitat School or Megan Winn at Lyle School by Friday, June 4.  Or call Sheila at 509-316-9523 (or email her at klasaccoalition@gmail.com).

Read more about this cool kit and activity:

https://www.maisonette.com/product/goldilocks-and-the-three-bears