Mr. Ronald Spanjer

Superintendent’s Message

Welcome To The New School Year!

It has been a very busy summer in the Blaine School District, as we prepare for the arrival of staff and students.  Our custodial and maintenance crews have worked very hard, with a summer calendar shortened by snow and ice in the winter and a longer than anticipated school year in 2006-07, to bring all of our classrooms and work spaces up to a level of preparation that our community expects.  Blaine enjoys some of the finest educational facilities in the state of Washington.  We applaud our employees for their commitment to a high standard for the ongoing maintenance of this tremendous investment.

We anticipate welcoming 20 new staff members to the district for the 2007-08 school year.  This summer, the Blaine School District has been privileged to consider a very extensive number of qualified candidates for open positions.  Teachers and support staff want to work in Blaine. We see this as a clear tribute to the overall quality of the program and the commitment that we make to supporting staff in their work with our students.

Improving student learning at every level of the program is at the heart of our mission.  Our students consistently demonstrate outstanding academic performance in comparison to other districts across the state.  Blaine High School was recently recognized by Newsweek as one of the top 1300 high schools in the nation, with the high level of student participation in advanced placement courses serving as a key factor in this recognition.  Students do not achieve success at the high school level without a strong K-8 foundation. We are privileged to have in place K-12 administrators, teachers and support personnel with extensive skill and experience.

During the 2007-08 school year, voters in the Blaine School District will have an opportunity to consider the need for not only a renewed maintenance and operations levy, but also a capital projects bond.  With continued rapid growth in the new home construction arena in the Blaine School District comes some very impressive projections for ongoing enrollment growth.  We have critical expansion and upgrade work to do at Blaine High School, an elementary school to construct in the Birch Bay area and a number of other projects that will be proposed to voters for consideration in the Spring of this school year.  It is the intent of the Board of Directors to remain proactive in planning for the future with respect to both short term and long range facility needs of the district.

Having recently completed my first year in the role of superintendent in the Blaine School District, I continue to be very impressed with the extensive level of community ownership and involvement that I see at all levels of the program.  The communities of Blaine, Pt. Roberts and Birch Bay take great pride in the work that takes place in their school district, and most importantly in the ongoing success of students.

We are looking forward to a very exciting and successful year in the Blaine School District.  Thank you for your continued involvement in the work of educating all students!