Lakeside School District

5 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 10 LAKESIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT With competitive staff compensation that ranks fifth in the state for teacher salaries, the district also celebrates the fact that a considerable number of its alumni are Lakeside employees. “We have about 240 certified teachers, and a pretty significant number are graduates of Lakeside Schools,” says Orr. “We grow a lot of our own, not only teachers, but our leadership team, teachers that are coming up through the pipeline, we pour a lot into that.” Orr emphasizes Lakeside’s commitment to creating a vibrant educational environment where parents are actively involved with the school community. Uniquely, all of the school buildings, spanning from primary to high school, are conveniently situated on a single campus, allowing for frequent interaction with parents. “Our district team doesn’t stay in the central office, we get out, we help with drop off and dismissal. That way we are around our parents a lot, and our parents become very comfortable with us,” he describes. “I’m about to begin my 19th year at Lakeside. A vast majority of our parents have my cell phone number. They like to tell me when something great has happened, or if they have a concern or an issue or maybe heard something, they know they have direct access to me. We try to be very approachable to our families in our community.” “We have a very robust Pee Wee elementary sports and activities program. So, it’s very typical for an evening to have six or seven flag and youth football teams using our field. We also have a youth volleyball League, so our gyms will be filled with little ones playing volleyball. When you have kids now, so much revolves around their activities, that’s where their friend groups come from. We like for Lakeside to be the hub of that family experience.” Community Engagement and Partnerships Lakeside School District strengthens its focus on community engagement through a variety of events and programs, including the Kindergarten