The Lake Washington School District is seeking community volunteers to serve on the district’s curriculum adoption committees. The committees are made up of teachers, administrators and parents. They review standards, teaching practices and materials for specific courses and content areas. Committees take two years to develop a recommendation.

This year, four different adoption committees will review the following curricula:

• 9-12th grade science
• 6th-8th grade science
• 6th-8th grade math
• Kindergarten – 5th grade visual arts

Applications are available on the district’s website (www.lwsd.org). Volunteer members will be selected based upon geographic location, diverse representation and be willing to participate for a one- to two-year term.

Adoption committees meet approximately once per month from September to June for two years. Meetings are held from 8 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. During the first year, committee members learn about best instructional practices. They develop standards for reviewing instructional materials. They create screening criteria. During the second year, committee members use the screening criteria to review available materials.

The committee must reach consensus on a recommendation of instructional materials. This recommendation is forwarded to the Instructional Materials Committee (IMC). Once approved by the IMC, the materials go to the Lake Washington School District Board of Directors for final approval.

For more information on serving on an adoption committee, contact Mike VanOrden, director of curriculum, at mvanorden@lwsd.org or 425-936-1267.