Purpose of Focus Week
Focus Week is a longstanding traditional at International School to provide students with unique learning experiences. Students will have the opportunity to have access to quality work and experiences, develop strong relationships with adults and cultivate relationships with students outside of their usual social group in a stimulating environment outside of the regular curriculum and classroom.
Each Focus Week activity must provide instruction in work skills and career education in one or more of the following areas: industrial arts, home and family life, business and office education, agricultural education, health occupations education, vocational education, trade and industrial education, and technical education. Students will also earn their one required credit of “Occupational Education” after the successful completion of four Focus Weeks during grades 9-12. At the end of Focus Week, students should be able to describe in detail at least one career and the path necessary to follow in order to pursue participation in that career.
What Will Focus Week Look Like this Year?
We are excited to be returning to five full days of activities that will take place between regular school hours each day. The activities will take place both on-campus and off-campus, depending on the Focus Week activity. Some examples of proposed themes that are based on student interest include the following:
- Cooking
- Visual arts
- Outdoor physical activities
- Makerspace and crafts
- Performance arts
- Science and engineering
Students received a digital Focus Week brochure in Community on 2/9. It is posted in the International Middle School and High School Teams and linked here:
Timeline
- Students will receive their digital flyer in Community on February 9 that will provide information on the choices students have this year.
- Students will submit their top four choices by February 16.
- Students and families will be notified for their Focus Week in mid-March.
- Students will have their first meeting in their Focus Week group during Community on May 11.
- Students will have their second Focus Week meeting to go over logistics during Community on May 18.
- Focus Week will be May 23 – 27. No regular classes will meet during this week.
Focus Week Selection
Students will receive a link in their student email to a Microsoft Forms registration. This will be used for making selections. The form will not be open until 6:00 on Friday, February 11 in order to provide time for family conversations. When completing the form, students will select an option that will provide an automatic email summary of their selections to their BSD email account. Families can ask their student to view the email summary to see their selections.
Focus Week Considerations for this Year
- All activities need to be safe for the pandemic. This will limit capacity in smaller spaces as well as eating in restaurants.
- Due to limited availability of buses, off-site will have some limitations but generally is available for groups each day.
- No overnight trips this year.
- Due to recent changes in financing at the state level, Focus Week will continue to operate with donations only.
Financial Considerations for Focus Week
Students are not required to pay to attend Focus Week but we depend on parent support for the success of our activity offerings! To ensure access for every Focus Week option for students, this year the costs of Focus Week is being shared 3 ways between the district, the building, and family donations to cover the remaining 1/3 of the cost.
We are working hard to reduce the cost of Focus Week by using parent drivers, public transportation, and reduced food expenditures. Please donate to help cover the cost of providing these enrichment opportunities. The suggested donation will be $30-$35 however, any amount is appreciated in order to make Focus Week successful! Donations will go into a restricted account and any excess will be used for future Focus Week activities.
Donations are not refundable. Donations are voluntarily made, given freely and at the discretion of the donating individual or organization and do not require anything in return. Any unspent/residual funds remaining from donations will be retained and used for a similar purpose as determined by school/department administrators.
Please click here to make your donation. https://wa-bellevue-lite.intouchreceipting.com/internationalschoolfocusweek