Dear Orca Families,

Thank you so much for your generosity during our 2025-2026 Move-a-thon Fundraiser! Your donations have a profound positive impact to our community and our Orcas' learning experiences. This year, especially, we are so grateful to have a community that is so supportive!

Our Move-a-Thon was a little soggy, but that made it all the more fun for our Orca runners, dancers, and jumpers! If you were able to make it out, thank you for joining us for the fun and support! A special thanks to our x̌alilc PTO for organizing such a fun event!

Please be sure to join us for conferences on Thursday or Friday - no school for students. If you have not signed up for a conference, please contact your student's teacher. Staff is excited to not only share, but also learn about your student(s). As a teacher, it was one of my favorite times of the year!

Have a great week and I look forward to seeing you around on Thursday and Friday!

Best,

Rhonda Walton

What an incredible day we had at the Move-a-thon! Despite the rain and our last-minute move to a covered location, our students had an amazing time running, hopping, dancing, and doing calisthenics together. It was such a wonderful sight to see our entire school community—students, faculty, and staff—all wearing their beautiful new shirts and sweatshirts featuring the sunflower and x̌alilc petroglyph design. Special thanks to Nicole Cleary (Halilts 2nd grade parent and owner of geekycleary.com Fantasy Art & Stories) for the wonderful new design. We witnessed so many special moments of school spirit!

Huge thanks to our amazing volunteers! Your time, energy, and awesome moves—jumping jacks, dancing, squats—made this event extra special and fun for our kids!

Through the incredible generosity of the x̌alilc community, we’ve raised 88% of our $85,000 goal! We are so grateful for this amazing support. We’re keeping the fundraising site open through Wednesday to give everyone a chance to participate and help us reach our goal of fully funding all the amazing programs and activities for our students, staff and community! https://go.rallyup.com/orcas25

If you have any fundraising envelopes that haven’t made it to the front office yet, please drop them by as soon as possible!

Thank you again for all you’ve done to support x̌alilc Elementary. Together, we’ll continue making our school a special place to learn and grow!

With gratitude and appreciation,

The x̌alilc Elementary PTO

Another huge thank you to our community sponsors as well! Your contributions are truly valued and appreciated.

Be sure to support these businesses that have so generously supported x̌alilc Elementary.

The competition is heating up! Currently leading the race for first place and the Island Cool fro-yo party is Ms. Kraig's class. Ms. Wood, Ms. Smith, Ms. Darling and Mr. E are fairly close behind though!

It looks like 4th grade is on track to earn that extra recess! On Wednesday the fundraiser will truly come to an end and the whole school will enjoy a Shave-Ice Party at recess to celebrate a job well done!  

We are looking for volunteers to help in the library! Volunteering is a wonderful way to connect with students and support a love of reading.

Library volunteer jobs include:

Classrooms that have requested support are listed in the Sign-up Genius. All volunteers must be an Approved BISD Volunteer.

Thank you for supporting our readers and keeping our library a vibrant place for learning!

2nd to 4th Graders are invited to sign-up to join Coach Henry for the next round of HALILTS After-School Multi-Sports. The first session starts Tuesday, Nov. 4th.

Students will meet Coach Henry outside the front office immediately after school and then head to the gym together. 

Students will play different sports each week. Sports include: basketball, baseball, tennis, football, pickleball, court hockey, and volleyball, among others. All sports equipment is provided and made of soft materials. 

Registration is through Island Hoops. Visit www.IslandHOOPS.org for more info. 

Conferences are a valuable opportunity to connect with your child’s teacher, celebrate progress, and discuss ways to support learning at home. Building this partnership helps ensure every student’s success.

There will be no school for students on Thursday, October 30, and Friday, October 31, as we hold parent-teacher conferences.

We look forward to seeing you at conferences!

If you need assistance signing-up, please contact your student's teacher.

Be sure to check the lost and found during conferences! We would love to have your family reunited with your belongings!

Come visit the lost and found in the front hall or remind your students to check the lost and found.

It’s that time of year again! Student hearing and vision screening is scheduled for Friday, November 7, 2025.

The Washington State mandated vision and hearing screening will take place on Friday, November 7, 2025 for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Students in 4th grade are not routinely screened, but we can include them by parent request.

The vision test consists of a “spot Vision Screener”, which tests both near and far vision. Hearing tests consists of routine audiometer screening.

Parents/guardians will be notified if the health screening results indicate a health care provider follow-up is recommended. 

If you want your 4th grade student included OR if you want to opt out of the screening for your K-3rd grade student, please contact the health room at 206-780-3022 or email pzosa@bisd303.org.

If your student was in grades 3 - 8, 10, or 11 (science only) in June of 2025, SBA results have been uploaded and are accessible in Skyward Family Access.

If you need assistance, please contact Sheila Jakubik at sjakubik@bisd303.org or by calling 206-780-3010.

If you have questions about the test, please contact your student's teacher or Ms. Brase.

Want to understand what BISD’s Supplemental Educational Programs & Operations (EP&O) Levy means for our schools and community? Visit our Levy Information Webpage or join an upcoming Zoom information session to get all the details.

Every day in BISD, students are supported by strong academics, creative opportunities, and staff who care for their whole well-being. This levy helps bridge the gap between what the state funds and what it actually costs to provide the education our community values.

The proposed rate is $0.08 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2026, $0.11 in 2027, and $0.13 in 2028—and even with this addition, overall school taxes will decrease as older bond taxes expire.

Zoom Information Sessions:

October 16th 2:30-3:30pm: Zoom Link

October 23rd 7-8pm: Zoom Link

Learn more at www.bisd303.org/levyinfo

Your input matters! BISD is planning for the future, and we invite families to share their perspectives in our short Community Survey. The feedback we gather will help guide district priorities and goals for the next five years.

30-31: K-6 Conferences - No School

4: Election Day

6: School Board Special Session - School Improvement Plan Presentations

7: Vision & Hearing Screening

11: Veterans Day - No School

13: School Board Meeting @ 5:45

14: PTO Meeting @ 9:00 am in Library

26-28: Thanksgiving Break - No School

Looking for things to do around town? Visit our Community Events page for local happenings, classes, and family activities—updated regularly.