Thanks to the generosity of the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's Goals 2000 office, the seven school districts in Skagit County were able to plan long--term staff development for an entire county of teachers. Within this project, six to nine teachers were chosen for each of five years to learn how to adjust their teaching and assessing methods to better align with the Washington Essential Academic Learning Requirements. At scheduled trainings, cross-district groups of teachers shared ideas and created lessons--with new ideas moving quickly from district to district. Over the course of the five years, schools once known as rivals grouped together to help the county's students improve.

Because of the power of collaboration toward clear goals and products, a number of other projects were initiated. The Skagit River Poetry Festival; the Pre-Service Innovation Project between the Skagit Valley Network and WWU's Woodring School of Education; the Skagit County Best Place 21st Century Community grant project; the growth of the Skagit County Boys and Girls Clubs; the Skagit Net School; and the WeatherNet and DramaTech projects all grew from the positive connections among Anacortes, Burlington-Edison, Concrete, Conway, LaConner, Mt. Vernon and the Sedro-Woolley school districts.

For further information about the Skagit Valley Network, call:
Kathy Shoop
LaConner School District
(360) 466 - 3171
kshoop@lcsd.wednet.edu