Editor,

I am proud to serve as principal for the 475 public school students we have at HomeConnection and Hand-in-Hand Early Center, located at the former Clover Valley Elementary campus for the past seven years. We provide our students a world-class education with 70 outstanding staff, including certificated teachers, secretaries, custodians and paraeducators plus playgrounds, a library and even a school lunch program just like all of our schools in Oak Harbor.

Half of our site at Clover Valley serves HomeConnection, a K-12 public school that partners with parents by enrolling nearly 300 part-time home schooled students in 144 different public school courses and classes each semester. Some of our students participate in a combination of Oak Harbor Public Schools programs through HomeConnection, Oak Harbor High School, Running Start and Oak Harbor Virtual Learning, the district’s online learning program. Our students in HomeConnection and these other programs are counted in our district’s enrollment, generating funding just like all other students.

The other half of our building serves Hand-in-Hand Early Learning Center, a partnership that includes our district’s “developmental” or special education preschool, Title I preschool and Head Start programs. The school is currently home to about 180 preschoolers and was hailed by the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction as a “model program.” Hand-in-Hand’s state and federally supported and mandated programs provide early learning opportunities critical for children’s development. The earlier learning difficulties are identified and addressed, the better results those students have throughout their education.

Our campus is nearly filled to capacity and our community’s investment here, supported by state and federal funding, results in wonderful options and opportunities for many students and families in our community. I am grateful to serve as principal for these incredible schools at Clover Valley.

If you’d like a tour of our campus or have any questions about our schools, programs or services, please feel free to call me at 360-279-5900 or email me at sevans@ohsd.net. I’d be happy to hear from you.

Shane Evans, principal

HomeConnection &Hand-in-Hand Early Learning Center