The Friday Harbor Film Festival is going virtual this year, featuring award-winning documentaries, short films, and student-made films, as well as daily livestreamed Q&As with filmmakers. All films will be available on demand for 10 days, October 15-25. Q&As will be recorded for those who can’t participate via livestream. Read about this year’s lineup  Continue Reading

Dear Friday Harbor community, I have always loved the month of September. Many years ago, when I decided to make education a life-long career I saw an opportunity to broaden my world, allowing me to extend beyond the limits of the little town where I was raised. Choosing education as a career eventually led me  Continue Reading

Skagit Valley College’s Continuing and Community Education program (CCE) is pleased to announce new online workshops for Fall Quarter. CCE allows you to engage, connect, learn, and grow from the comfort of your home in short-term, non-credit courses. Visit the CCE Fall 2020 Course Catalog for more information. Courses are designed for people who would like to  Continue Reading

Spring Street International School would like to thank the San Juan Island Community Foundation for hosting, coordinating, and including us in the SJICF Fair Matching Grant Program. The Fair Matching Grant Program helped us raise $4,605 that went towards preparing our school to open up safely this fall and provide our students with an innovative  Continue Reading

San Juan Island Library announces that renowned regional author Clare Hodgson Meeker will host a Zoom talk on Friday, October 2, at 7:00 p.m. Meeker’s latest book, Growing Up Gorilla: How a Zoo Baby Brought Her Family Together, is a 2020 Washington State Book Award Finalist for Young Readers. Meeker will discuss writing Growing Up  Continue Reading

Island Rec has 2 Great LEGO camp options for you this season! The first, tap into your imagination from the comfort of your own home with the guidance of an experienced Play-Well instructor and simple pieces from your own LEGO collection – all while connecting virtually with other young LEGO engineers. Students will explore their  Continue Reading

The San Juan Island School District’s Food for Thought Program is back at it! Though most of the staff was furloughed, Chef Andy, Ashley Spendiff and Kerri Starr are working hard to provide healthful FROM SCRATCH meals to all children in San Juan County ages 1-18 FOR FREE. Check out the school website for current  Continue Reading

Alchemy’s Kid Pods are perfect for children and young people who want to learn, explore, and be creative- outdoors and in person!   Alchemy is signing up groups of 4-5 kids on a rolling basis for personalized outdoor creative programming that includes ceramics, printmaking, drawing, t-shirt decoration, games, nature exploration, and more.   Classes take place once  Continue Reading

Skagit Valley College’s Worker Retraining program covers tuition, books, and school-related fees to help those who are Unemployed. Skagit Valley College is pleased to announce that we are offering you new options for Fall Quarter taught by our trained, experienced online instructors. Classes start Tuesday, September 22 and registration is going on now. Are you  Continue Reading

Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor is pleased to announce its 2020 educational award winners.    The Live Your Dream Award, a worldwide signature Soroptimist program, is given to a woman who is the primary wage earner in her household and enrolled in an undergraduate degree or vocational skills program.  This year’s recipient is Maricela Lomeli. Maricela  Continue Reading

It’s time to register for fall dance classes! Salish Sea Ballet is offering small group in-person classes as well as virtual classes on Zoom. Our studio is spacious, well-ventilated, and follows COVID-19 protocols for safety and sanitization. We are excited to offer classes for dancers ages 3 and up. Check out our class schedule online,  Continue Reading

From The Whale Museum… After over 5 months of being closed, we got word that the Governor is allowing museums to open in Phase 2 (8-2020)! The Exhibit Hall and Gift Shop are open daily 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.  We are diligently following every rule put in place by the Health Department and Washington  Continue Reading

San Juan Island School District would like to thank the San Juan Community Foundation for the annual “Fair matching grant” in support of our community!  We are grateful to be included in this year’s “line up” of worthy causes that help our community stay strong and healthy. SJISD is asking for support for the K-12  Continue Reading

COVID-19 updates from San Juan County around subjects on the minds of islanders As we head into the second half of August, local public and private schools are pursuing a range of options for the start of the school year. This article will not be addressing the specifics of school reopening plans-that will come directly  Continue Reading

This 2020 Fair season, Alchemy Art Center is grateful to be featured in the San Juan Island Community Foundation’s Matching Grant Program!  We are raising funds for the free kids arts programming we are currently offering in partnership with Island Rec and the Family Resource Center, as well as for the Kid Pod Classes we  Continue Reading

At last evening’s special board meeting, the San Juan Island School District Board of Directors approved a fall reopening plan for schools.  After several months of planning with the district workgroups and steering committee, Superintendent Fred Woods recommended to the Board that the San Juan Island public schools begin the 2020-2021 school year under a  Continue Reading

We hear from Maude at the School District… The San Juan Island School District Board of Directors will hold a Special School Board Meeting on Thursday August 6, at 5:00 pm as a Zoom meeting.  This meeting is open to the public.   To access the Zoom meeting, please click on “Video” within the electronic Board Agenda, or call the  Continue Reading

Governor Inslee announces education recommendations for 2020-2021 school year… San Juan County is among 5 counties in Washington State that are considered “Low Risk” for COVID-19. Plans regarding school reopening are made by the local health jurisdiction and school district. Gov. Jay Inslee, Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal and DOH’s state health officer, Dr.  Continue Reading

There is a lot going on at the Alchemy Art Center.   Dear Parents,   We have been looking forward to getting back to making art in person, and have some thoughts on how we can do so as safely as possible!   It seems to us that school will probably not be back to “normal” in  Continue Reading

The Friday Harbor High School Aerospace Team is at it again! The 2020 International Space Settlement Design Competition just finished, though without travelling to NASA as in the last two years. The Aerospace Team’s name this year is “Grumbo” (think Grumman mixed with Boeing) and the Friday Harbor High School Team joined with teams from  Continue Reading

By Louise Dustrude When the new Visitor Center opens at American Camp next summer there will be some familiar features — the curved-trunk Douglas fir at the entrance, the small clump of black locust trees within the parking lot, and the friendly, knowledgeable National Park Service staff and volunteers to answer questions. There will also  Continue Reading

Although 2020 has been an incredibly challenging school year, the San Juan Island Community Foundation carried on its tradition of awarding annual scholarships to local students. Over the last few months, SJICF has awarded just under $150k in college scholarships and awards to 39 local students for the 2020-2021 school year. 9 graduating seniors from Friday Harbor High  Continue Reading