CAMANO: Superintendent updates board on strategic plan progress

Libby Williams reports from the Stanwood-Camano School District board meeting of Tue., Sep. 2, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.

As school began, Superintendent Ryan Ovenell reviewed the Stanwood-Camano School District’s strategic plan and provided updates to the board during its Tuesday, Sept. 2, meeting.

The strategic plan was adopted in 2022, and received about 2,500 pieces of feedback and had 150 volunteers sitting on the committee.

Community satisfaction toward the plan is rising, Ovenell said, with 70.8% of respondents to a poll saying they approve of the plan compared to 64% in 2023 and 67% in 2024.

Ratings for teacher quality, student safety and neighborhood school performance have also increased.

The plan is comprised of four goals: providing adequate early learning, engaging every student, supporting continuous achievement and growth, and producing future-ready graduates.

They Said It

“I think it’s appropriate that today is the update to the strategic plan as it’s the first day of school,” Ovenell said. “The strategic plan drives and is a road map to what happens in the classroom, in shaping what is leading up to what goes on in the classroom.”

“Early learning accounts for our earliest learners (preschool) through third grade,” he said.

“We continue to focus on social emotional learning, as we know that true social emotional learning actually does move academics.”

“In January of last year, we made some intensive interventions around graduation rate,” he said.

“We were sitting at about 85% projected rate for Stanwood High School in January and about 45% for Lincoln Hill.”

He said after intervention efforts, which included check-ins with principals, credit retrieval and more, the early data show that Stanwood High School is at about 89% and about 60% for Lincoln Hill High School.

“We should see those arrows tick up even more,” he said, adding that because of Lincoln Hill’s smaller size, any graduates greatly impact the overall percentage.

On the Ballot in November 2025