North Pines Middle School is a beautiful, state-of-the-art building located in the heart of Spokane Valley. When you enter the facilities, it seems like any middle school in Washington State. It is abuzz with students and typical boisterous middle school activity - staff greeting students at the door, students greeting one another, and staff urging students to get to class. Then, the bell and quiet set in, and the learning starts. There are so many layers to the work happening in our schools across the state to set the learning conditions for our students. North Pines is one of the most diverse schools in the Central Valley School district, and they have taken their job to provide equitable, rigorous learning opportunities for their students seriously.

The 2024 Legislative Session kicked off this week, and it will be a 60-day sprint to the finish. Hundreds of new bills were pre-filed, hundreds of bills are still in play from last year, and hundreds of new bills are being introduced, which makes for lots of reading and a massive bill tracking list. The first cut-off of the session is January 31, when bills must pass off the floor of their house of origin, so this list will be much shorter in just a few weeks. Whew.

The second year of the 68th Washington State Biennial Legislature has begun. Given that this will be a ‘short’ session, the pace will be brisk (an understatement). Numerous bills have been and will continue to be introduced. Some are good ideas; others are not, and some are just plain silly. Hearings have started. A caveat: There are always more bills proposed that will survive the entire process. (Thank goodness!) With that in mind, below is a report and comments on selected bills that may or may not remain as the session unfolds. The point is that until hearings on selected bills are scheduled, most are just titles and text with no explanations or fiscal notes. As these become available, more detail will be presented in this report.

The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) announces that high school students Ms. Gianna Patrice Frank and Ms. Mahika Kavya Malladi will join Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell in representing Washington during the 62nd annual USSYP Washington Week, to be held March 2 — 9, 2024. Gianna Frank of Marysville and Mahika Malladi of Redmond were selected from among the state’s top student leaders to be part of the 104 national student delegation. Each delegate will also receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study.

As we embrace the new year, it's important we take a moment to reflect and report on our AWSP Principals’ Fall Forum that took place in November - a testament to the resilience and collaborative spirit of Washington's school leaders. The virtual gathering provided a unique opportunity for regional connections, idea sharing, and the reaffirmation that, in our shared journey, no school leader stands alone.

House Bill 1426 passed in 2021 and it requires that administrators who renew their administrator certificate on or after July 1, 2023 must complete a five-hour Government-to-Government Relationships Training. Administrators also need to complete 10 clock hours related to leadership standards and 10 clock hours related to equity before renewing their certificates.

Whether your focus is social and emotional learning or preparing 21st century graduates, like ice cream after a big meal, there is always a little space to help your kids build media literacy and digital citizenship skills in the classroom or library. These webinars will build your understanding of these topics and help you find strategic connections to what’s already happening in your schools.

This past year is one that provided me a variety of opportunities to learn, grow and become a better person and principal. As we turn the page into the New Year I want to encourage you to reflect on the positive memories of last year. It is important to honor the incredible work you have done to support your staff, students, and families you serve through this school year.

2023 has been a great year thanks to all of you! We hope that you are able to truly rest and enjoy the holidays during the next couple of weeks. Please note that the AWSP office will be closed Tuesday, Dec. 19 at noon through Tuesday, Jan. 2.

Happy December friends. I absolutely LOVE the holiday season. This is the month you MUST remember to take care of you, have some fun with your family AND make some unforgettable memories. I find by adding fun activities for my staff I automatically get an energy boost from their positivity, smiles, and excitement. Research is clear when you help others fill their bucket YOUR bucket also gets filled. I encourage you to go for it this month and try something new and unique. Your staff will appreciate it and so will your heart and spirit. Remember to email me or tag me on social media, so I can see your creations and celebrations @sholtys

The Association of Washington School Principals is pleased to announce the 2024 recipients of the Washington State Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year awards: Dr. William Jackson, Secondary Principal of the Year; Heidi Fagerness, Secondary Assistant Principal of the Year; Cathy Sork, Elementary Principal of the Year; and Dr. Nick Davies, Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year. These distinguished leaders epitomize excellence in educational leadership within the state, serving as exemplary leaders for their peers, students, and communities.

Hello, fellow school leaders. We recently wrapped up a great two-day meeting at the Crowne Plaza in SeaTac, WA, where the Elementary Grade-Level Leadership Committee came together for some meaningful discussions and shared experiences. What truly struck a chord with us was our conversation about hope. We discussed our roles in nurturing hope within our schools, and it was heartening to hear that for many of us, the support of this group had been instrumental in their journey as principals. It truly underscored the significance of our shared mission and the power of collective support.

AWSP and WASA are excited to share the latest opportunity for our two associations to partner in support of Washington’s education leaders and the students we serve. We want to hear your thoughts and suggestions about TPEP! AWSP and WASA are privileged to hold seats on the OSPI TPEP Steering Committee. To ensure we accurately articulate the desires of our members relating to evaluating teachers, principals, and assistant principals, both associations are launching the Thought Exchange prompt to gather ideas and suggestions from you:

As we close out National Principals Month, I have a few updates to share with you. First, I want to say thank you to all the amazing principals and APs who engaged with us on social media and through email during this month celebrating YOU. As a refresher, our prompts were:

As you can probably tell I LOVE to celebrate and show appreciation for people in my life. I believe passionately it is critical to have a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving. November is the perfect month to spend time thinking of the things or people that make you smile. Thank YOU for supporting me by reading this newsletter and sending me your pictures or email about how you are implementing the ideas.

School leaders, what if one of your students said, “We won an Emmy!”? Our ultimate goal as inclusive educational leaders is to have all of our students achieve at high levels. For Samuel Habib, an Emmy was never his end goal; he set out to document his life story so others can see the daily struggle, perseverance, and payoff for our students with disabilities when they are encouraged, supported, included, and advocated for. In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, I encourage each of us to learn more about Samuel and your own staff and students with disabilities' journey. As you identify the barriers your students and staff face in your school and district, think about how you and other school leaders can use your privilege, title, and opportunity to remove some of those barriers. What can I (we) do to support and advocate for students and staff with disabilities? How can I (we) elevate their story of perseverance to pave the way and model for others?

Back in June, we gathered a small cadre of principals, superintendents, and staff members from AWSP and WASA to begin to identify short-term and long-term solutions to the leadership crisis in our state. We must do something to reverse the course of high turnover rates, small candidate pools, and decreased job satisfaction. While the focus of this committee is starting with easing the pressure on principals, it is much larger in scale. It’s about the entire leadership pipeline in our K12 educational system. If we want great future superintendents, we must cultivate and support future and current school leaders.

There are so many wonderful things I associate with October. The change of leaves, the final harvest from our garden, my son's birthday, and Friday night lights, just to name a few. October is when the school year becomes real for our staff and students. The novelty of the start has worn off, and it's fast and furious every day for our team. It is a month when you must do something to celebrate your staff. This month's newsletter is loaded with a ton of ideas to help you achieve this. Check out the details of October 4, as it is becoming one of my favorite days of the year, but then again, anything to do with tacos makes my heart happy. I also want to challenge YOU to put something on the calendar this month that will bring you joy. Maybe it will be coffee with a friend, a spa treatment, or going out for dessert with your partner. Do something intentional this month to bring joy to your heart. I believe in you!

The Washington State Department of Health sent me a couple of pieces of information to pass along to our school leaders across the state. Unfortunately, many of you middle-level and high school leaders might already be aware of these.

After a crazy few years of school leadership through a pandemic and its immediate recovery, the vibe we're getting for this back to school season is simply "normal." That was the report at least from the vast majority of our AWSP Board Executive Committee check-in we had the other day. What's not normal is the way AI has infiltrated so much of our lives, especially for those of us in education. I've got a few things to share with you to help navigate through these undiscovered waters.