At the beginning of the school year, the level of urgency applied to reading school and district correspondence including notes sent home, emails and my least favorite — the robo-call — is pretty high. It certainly wanes as the year progresses and the emails match the handouts and a robocall includes info about a pool party. It didn’t help once the holidays arrived and my inbox was full of emails with “last chance” deals from every business I’ve ever patronized. When we head back to school after the winter break, I have a bit of a renewed commitment to getting the info as close to when it is sent as possible, even the emails from the district. It paid off this week as in addition to some items from the district, I got an email from the City of Lynnwood and Steel Magic Northwest with some great info.

Let’s start with the Edmonds School District. Talking about February feels a little hypocritical considering my annoyance at the slew of Valentine’s options available and the stores I frequent, but this involves kindergarten! The annual Kick Off to Kindergarten will be held at all neighborhood K-6 schools on Monday, Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m. All families of kindergarten students who will begin school in the fall of 2018 are invited to “find out about kindergarten, meet your child’s principal and office staff, and obtain a registration packed to complete at home.” The first day you may turn in a registration packed is Wednesday, February 28th. (I was so anxious for kindergarten, and at the time to get into the lottery for the full-day option with the most coveted teacher, that I was there the second I got off of my morning shift to drop off the papers. The office admin, who I’ve now known for roughly seven years, was kind and understanding as per her usual, and let me know I was still not even the first to drop off the packet.) To verify your child’s home school visit www.edmonds.wednet.edu and click on the Neighborhood School Finder under Site Shortcuts.

The District email also included a free community event in support of LGBT*Q+ students and families on Wednesday, Jan.17 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The goal of this free training, which is in partnership with Verdant Health Commission, according to the announcement is to “support our LGBT*Q+ students and families” in hopes of continuing to foster community in our district. Sally Guzman, ESD’s Family Engagement Specialist said, “We are excited for this event; it will be the first time we have invited all parties who have expressed interest to learn together.” Attendants will learn about gender diversity, listen to stories from families and students, and support students, even when they don’t understand their own identity. The event will be held at Verdant Health Center, which is on 196th Street Southwest, across from Freddy’s. Child care will be provided for children ages 3 and up who are potty trained. Families that need interpretation are asked to register in advance as the district needs three days to schedule interpreters. The link for registration can be found HERE.

Wednesday, I got an email from the City of Lynnwood with “January Parents Night Out” in the subject line. It wasn’t tough to click on this one as I was definitely interested in some time out as I couldn’t procure our home-from-college-for-break sitter last week and I’m dying to see Disaster Artist. Lynnwood’s first Parents Night Out of the year is this Friday, Jan. 5 from 6 to 9:30 p.m.. Usually these events include swimming, but with the pool closed for its annual maintenance, they are having a movie night instead. Kids will be watching Despicable Me3, eating dinner, playing games in the fitness studio and racquet ball courts, and doing fun art projects. Of course after reading all the info, I realized we have a hockey practice that coincides, but this is hard to pass up if you’re looking for child care. It is $15 for Lynnwood residents, and $17 for everyone else! For registration you can click HERE and enter 69520 or you can always call them at 425-670-5732.

The last correspondence I want to share came via Facebook Messenger. Gary Gibson, Executive/Artistic Director of Steel Magic Northwest, reached out to remind me that registration is open for all ages at the Edmonds location of Steel Magic Northwest, currently the Edmonds Adventist Church on 196th Street Southwest. Gibson told me that the group is twice the size it was last year and throughout this “semester,” which involves both the winter and spring sessions, there will be concerts, some school assemblies, their Youth Steelband Summit at the MoPOP, festivals and other performances. In fact, the spring session culminates in a concert on Wednesday, March 21. My oldest son took the Steel Drum elective in Edmonds Summer Music School and really loved it, but we have yet to be able to work it out with our schedule to join the twice-weekly sessions. There is a class for 5th and 6th graders, 7th through 12th graders, and also an adults class. For more information or registration, visit SteelMagicNorthwest.org.

– By Jennifer Marx

Jen Marx, a local mom of two young boys, is always looking for a fun place to take the kids that makes them tired enough to go to bed on time. You can find her on Twitter trying to make sense of begging kids to ”just eat the mac n cheese.”