Dr. Chip Kimball chats with the Reporter about district’s strategic goal

School starts Sept. 2 for the 20,000 students in the Lake Washington School District (LWSD), serving Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish and a small part of Woodinville.

Relatively new LWSD Superintendent Dr. Chip Kimball, who replaced Don Saul in early 2007, knows he has challenging work cut out for him in the 2008-09 school year. Yet he’s excited about the steady march toward the district’s strategic goal of Vision 2020.

In a recent chat with the Reporter, Kimball elaborated, “How do we ensure that all kids are future-ready? … 2020 is a plan based on ‘clear vision’ but also, kindergartners who entered school a year ago are the Class of 2020. That seems so far out, but it’s not.”

Administrators and educators in the district are looking at all aspects of scheduling and teaching practices that foster kids’ preparedness for college and the increasingly competitive workforce.

Kimball explained, “Last year was focused on research and the guiding principles. Now we’re entering into self-study on best practices and asking ourselves, ‘What do we look like?’ ”

LWSD administrators currently are involved in the August Institute — a series of professional workshops that include “building a culture of excellence, direction-setting for the new year and asking ourselves, ‘What are the tools and skills educators need most?’ to help students succeed,” he said.

Much attention will be placed on math and science programs, in response to strict college entrance requirements and specialized training needed for tomorrow’s occupations.

“There is increased expectation of what kids will want or need,” said Kimball. “The state is looking at making a third year of math a requirement to complete high school. And we know that those who complete advanced algebra have a high degree of success in college.”

He acknowledged that not every LWSD student aspires to, or is able to, attend a four-year university, but he wants all to be equipped with the skills to do so, if they choose.

“I believe all students will need some post-secondary education, whether it’s a community college, technical school or vocational school,” he added.

Is everybody happy?

We asked about a vocal parent group called “Where’s the Math?,” which has criticized the district’s math curriculum and referred to it as “fuzzy math.” The group has demanded a return to memorization of basic math facts and formulas.

Kimball nodded, “Math will continue to be on our watch list. The elementary math curriculum is up for adoption in the next two years. The closer we get to elementary adoption, the more heated it’ll become. The good news is that our kids continue to perform well on math in this district. Do they perform as well as we want them to? Sometimes not, but we are well above the state and others. Math curriculum is becoming better aligned and as elementary students move on to secondary, we will reap those benefits quickly.”

He continued, “Research is becoming more clear that conceptual math, what we are currently using in elementary, is important. But formulas and fluidity with math facts are important, too.”

Crunching numbers

Kimball also is aware of controversy about the size of schools in the LWSD.

Currently, enrollment is large on the east side of the district and small on the west side.

“We have 1,100 students at Inglewood Junior High (in Sammamish), 450 at Finn Hill Junior (in Kirkland). As a district, we have to grapple with discrepancies and sizes and how to best serve students,” he said.

There are no easy answers for LWSD and other school districts, such as Northshore, which have an enrollment imbalance.

“Do we have boundary changes? More buildings? We don’t know yet where this will take us,” Kimball admitted. “Anytime you mess with neighborhoods (kids not going to their nearest school) it’s upsetting.”

Basic “per pupil” funding for all LWSD students continues to lag behind many other school districts, he noted. In spite of having Microsoft and other huge corporations in our midst, this district is one of the poorest in the state.

And special education programs, which are very costly, are underfunded to the tune of $2 million in the LWSD, Kimball noted.

No budget cuts are imminent, but Kimball said his priority is always to minimize impact on kids and their classrooms.

If/when changes are made, there will be public input, he said, “not to select particular programs but priorities we’ve done that twice in the last four years.”

Parental pressure

In addition to being at the helm of the LWSD, Kimball is a parent in the district.

The situation is “a blessing and a curse,” he remarked, laughing. “There’s a little pressure in the buildings to have a superintendent’s child. … But I’m vested for all kids, including my kids, in the quality of education here.”

Furthermore, said Kimball, “It’s often easy for a high-level administrator to get filtered information. I get true information from my kids, their friends and their friends’ parents. Unfiltered information is important to truly understand what’s happening. No system is perfect, but we are committed unequivocally to continuous improvement. We have to be willing to tell the truth about kids, schools and each other.”

New frontiers

Robert Frost’s Elementary is Kirkland is scheduled to open its new building this fall, as is the brand-new Rachel Carson Elementary in Sammamish.

The remodel for Lake Washington High School has gone through planning stages and should be ready for opening in 2011.

Improvements to Finn Hill Junior High are in planning now and soon planning will commence for building work at Rose Hill Junior High in Redmond, said Kimball.

Professional development also moves onward and upward, he said.

“Technical training for staff is part of that and there is a huge emphasis on curriculum, how to present curriculum so kids are excited and drawn to the classroom.”

Elementary science kits and better and more lab science experiences at the junior high and high school levels are giving students broader exposure to the types of jobs that will coincide with the LWSD’s Vision 2020, he said.

To read a biography of Dr. Chip Kimball, visit the LWSD Web site,

www.lwsd.org/About/District-Admin/Superintendent.