Hello Vashon Community!

We hope you had a wonderful summer and are as excited as we are to get back to a fall routine – whether that is work, school or volunteering in the community.

We are eager to kick-start another school year! For school families, it might mean the daily packing of lunches, the quick goodbyes as our kids run out the door, cheering on the Pirates on a crisp fall night, or the return to afternoon traffic at the Cemetery Road four-way stop. A new school year awakens our fall traditions.

One of the many traditions the Vashon Schools Foundation (VSF) is most proud of since our start in 2010 is being able to provide our kids with a distinctive, hands-on learning experience. Through the generosity of parents, teachers, staff, and our broader community, VSF continues to support vital hands-on programming that fosters the socio-emotional health of our kids, equity, the arts and sciences, and programs that connect learning with nature on our beautiful island.

This year, we’re partnering with the Vashon Wilderness Program (VWP) — among other partners — to bring additional outdoor learning to the lives of our students. VWP will be here on Tuesdays throughout the school year, providing guided nature connection activities on the CES campus during an additional recess.

VWP Mentors will be stationed around the playground area and offer a variety of choice-based activities including high and low-energy sensory-based games, small motor nature craft activities, nature wanders in the woods and pond area and interactive nature museum items/field guide exploration.

The Vashon Schools Foundation believes that it’s our responsibility, including all our Vashon Island neighbors, to develop, sustain and grow a love of learning — we can’t do that without the incredible support of community members like you. A suggested monthly gift of $20 will help keep Vashon’s one-of-a-kind educational experience thriving.

As a community organization, our primary goal is greater participation from our community and school families, and any donation (monthly or one-time) has a meaningful impact on our kids’ education and well-being.

Donations can be made by mailing a check to Vashon Schools Foundation, P.O. Box 481, Vashon, WA 98070, or visiting our website, vashonschoolsfoundation.org/donate.

Your support of our kids is nothing short of amazing and we can’t thank you enough.

Mary Margaret Briggs is treasurer of the Vashon Schools Foundation. Visit vashonschoolsfoundation.org.