Birchwood Elementary School

About

I have been working with the fine folks at Birchwood Elementary since late 2008.  We have worked on a number of projects together and hopefully will continue to do so for the foreseeable future!  Almost everything we do together we do with the intention of closing the distance between the school and the community.  The idea has always been to engage the neighborhood and present the school not just as a neighborhood school but an asset in the greater neighborhood context.

Latest Updates

• April 2010: Community Navigator Family Fun Night at Birchwood Elementary.
• March 2010: Partnership between Birchwood Elementary and the WFCN Community Navigators program formed.  This will enable a neighborhood based approach to families working with Children’s Administration. See more here.
• November 2009: Food Drive UPDATE! Over 1500 cans collected and picked up by the Lighthouse Mission! Including dozens brought in by Birchwood Neighbors to support the effort! AWESOME!
• November 2009: Helped Birchwood Elementary Leadership Students plan and implement a neighborhood wide canned food drive.  Little Caesars is donating pizza to the class that brings in the most cans and Albertsons has graciously allowed the students to post collection bins.  The Birchwood Neighborhood Food Drive runs from November 9th through November 24th and all food collected goes to the Lighthouse Mission!
• October 2009: Birchwood Elementary becomes the host for this year’s Community Toy Store
• Summer 2009: Great news! Rebound’s Flying Colors after school tutoring program has changed locations! They are now in the Birchwood Neighborhood at Northwest Baptist Church, within walking distance of Birchwood Elementary.
• Spring 2009: A group of Birchwood residents teamed up with Birchwood teachers and parents to create a Community/School Garden at Birchwood Elementary.
• Spring 2009: Developed working relationship between Rebound of Whatcom County and Birchwood Elementary with the goal of getting Birchwood students access to the Rebound’s Flying Colors after school tutoring program which was being held in the Cordata area.
• Winter 2009: Developed a solid working relationship between Birchwood Elementary and the Birchwood Neighborhood Association.  Birchwood Elementary offered to send the neighborhood newsletter home with students, giving the BNA unprecedented access to the hundreds of families served by Birchwood Elementary in the Birchwood Neighborhood.
• November 2008: Worked with Birchwood Elementary Leadership Students during their canned food drive.  We partnered with the Lighthouse Mission, who came out to the school and talked to the students and picked up the canned goods.  A full truck load of canned goods went to the Lighthouse Mission just before Thanksgiving 2008.  Great job Bulldogs!