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Congratulations to the Lakewood School Board! The Washington State School Directors Association recognized the Lakewood Board of Directors with the 2025 Board of Distinction last week. This award reflects the board’s commitment to narrowing opportunity gaps and aligning board actions with initiatives to promote student success.

Back left: Leah Tocco, President, District 5; Dawn Taylor, District 4; Steven Larson, District 1; Dana Krueger, Vice President, District 3; Sandy Gotts, District 2; Amelia Escalante, student advisor; Rubi Carmona-Rodriguez, student advisor; Dr. Erin Murphy, Board Secretary.

New teacher librarian Keely Hall is no stranger to Lakewood. A proud alum, she attended Cougar Creek, Lakewood Middle School, and graduated from Lakewood High School.

As an elementary student, Hall volunteered in the Cougar Creek library in grades 3-5, reshelving books, mending damaged ones, and reading with younger students. Now, she’s come full circle, returning to the very same library — this time as its librarian.

More cowbell! This instrument isn’t just fun to ring during Cougar Cabinet meetings; it’s a tool for encouraging respectful communication.

During a lively kickoff meeting, student leaders from all five of our schools came together to share ideas, build community, and take action to improve their schools.

Over the summer, our district’s facilities and grounds teams were hard at work to ensure our schools are safe, efficient, and welcoming learning environments for students and staff.

Highlights include: Deep cleaning of floors in classrooms, hallways and common areas; a new slide at CCE to ensure optimal safety, general repairs and upkeep, including painting and mowing.

On Sept. 2, Lakewood celebrated the arrival of our newest electric school bus with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony. Two students joined School Board President Leah Tocco, Superintendent Dr. Erin Murphy, Transportation Supervisor Sheri Sandquist, and members of our Transportation team to mark the occasion and be the first to board the bus. This newest addition brings Lakewood’s electric bus fleet to six. 

Thanks to a $1.6 million grant from the Washington Department of Ecology, we’ve added three new electric buses and the charging infrastructure to support them. The first arrived in March, the second in April, and the third is now officially on the road.