The Advocate
The Advocate is updated in the first week of every other month September through May, containing articles relating to private school issues, representation, and local-to-national news relevant to independent schools.
Ask Nancy February 2019: Measles Outbreak in Washington State
In late January, Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency in Washington because of a measles outbreak in Clark County. There was also one reported case of measles in King county. February's Ask Nancy provides some clear guidance on what schools can do and...
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First Legislative Update of 2019 for WA Private Schools
The Legislative Session is in the second week and the feeling in Olympia is different than last year, which was a short and very focused session. There is more time for productive discussion around priorities, the budget and how to best support education and early...
read moreNew York State Authorizes Public Education Officials to Inspect All Private Schools
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has issued guidelines under which public school officials would inspect private schools to determine whether the education being provided is satisfactory. This stunning announcement has generated massive pushback from...
read moreThe Importance of Religious Education in a Democracy
Religious education offers young people a balanced framework for a life imbued with meaning and purpose. In this age of technology, automation and artificial intelligence, the articulation and teaching of a meaning-driven life is the art of...
read moreFinal ELAC Report of 2018
Chelle Downey-Magee is the WFIS Representative on ELAC, Washington's Early Learning Advisory Council. Her report on the final ELAC meeting of 2018 follows: The agenda for this meeting was quite forward looking--to the next legislative session, to...
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Ask Nancy December 2018: Lice Outbreaks
For December, WFIS received an inquiry about WA K-12 policy on recurrent lice issues in a classroom. So, for this month's Ask Nancy, we look at how to prevent lice outbreaks and review guidelines on how school staff should address discovery of lice. ...
read moreAlberta education minister threatens to pull funding for 28 private schools over GSAs
Alberta's education minister is threatening to pull funding from 28 private school authorities if they don't comply with legislation permitting gay-straight alliances. David Eggen said he has issued ministerial orders establishing standard policies for...
read moreLegal Seminar recap
WFIS reached out to the school law team at Karr Tuttle Campbell firm to host the first Private School Legal Seminar for schools in WA state in almost 10 years. Schools from the various constituency groups, members and non-members of WFIS, gathered…
read moreAcademic Focus or Whole-Child Approach? Inside the Pre-K Curriculum Debate
By Christina A. Samuels for EdWeek.org Some of the most popular curricula for preschools are those that take a "whole child" approach to learning—wrapping social-emotional learning, executive function skills, self-regulation goals, and cognition in one package. But a...
read moreSchool Snack: Ordinary activities that awaken kindness
…an important increase in what’s now called Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) has emerged. It’s been shown that children who grow in this realm do better in school, are happier, and feel more connected to each other.
read moreState Board of Ed Bulletin for Private School Enrollment and Staff Reporting
As of September 1, SBE staff have taken over the role that OSPI staff held for private school approvals and inquiries. State Board of Education staff will also be responding to inquiries sent to the private school email address (private.schools@k12.wa.us) and the...
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