Jennifer began her career with the East Valley School District twelve years ago in 2013.

She grew up in Cheney and is the youngest of 4 kids in her family. She moved to Seattle in her early twenties to go and be wild and crazy and have fun before the responsibilities of life took hold. When that phase was over, it was time to buy a house and raise her son, which she decided to do in Spokane. She’s lived on the South Hill for 24 years now. Jennifer is married and has the best dog, a German Shorthaired Pointer named Berkley. She enjoys camping and the outdoors and is more of a “mountains” girl than a “beach” girl.

While at home, Jennifer enjoys just hanging out, cooking some good food, and relaxing out on her patio. She is fortunate enough to still have both her parents alive and spends almost every Saturday with them while she can. Even at the ages of 87 and 91, they still have a lengthy “to-do” list for her, which she is happy to do for them.

Jennifer can’t resist the charm of a full moon on a clear night – it’s so amazing and beautiful. She also loves a good, buttery, flaky shortbread cookie with her coffee on the weekends!

Why she loves Nutrition Services: “I like working in Nutrition Services because it makes me feel like I'm being helpful in this life. I'm proud of the number of meals we serve in a day. I'm proud of the love and care that our kitchens show to our students every day. It's a good feeling knowing that we feed as many EV students as possible, not just during the school year, but during the summer too. Food is tangible and allows for connections to be made. It's challenging and rewarding, and I like that.”

Why she chose East Valley: Jennifer originally applied to East Valley because she wanted a change and more of a challenge in her career. She had been in the food industry in various capacities for over 24 years, everything from fast food, fine dining, culinary school, catering, and elder care. She thought “school food” was something she hadn’t done before that could be interesting, and it was an opportunity for her to learn and grow in more ways than she could ever imagine. To this day, “school food,” with the nutritional guidelines, commodity foods, bids, purchasing rules, and staffing, is still very interesting.

Favorite part of her job: One of her favorite parts of being the Nutrition Services Director is finding new, fun, delicious menu items for our students to enjoy. She loves it when she sees kids get excited about eating meals at school and wants to feed as many of them as she can. The pride the kitchen staff has in their program is another favorite of hers. Food is clearly her love language!

Fun fact: The number combination of 4-4-4 pops up frequently in her life!

Three words to describe her: Honest – Flexible – Casual

On Tuesday, April 29th, current and former EVMS students were honored at the annual Chase Youth Awards Ceremony at the Fox Theatre. Current high schoolers Idalia Cruz and Naomi Figueroa won the award for Cultural Advocacy for their work in organizing a cultural fair at EVMS last year. Additionally, Middle School Advanced Art students Coralie Anderson, Eli Beech-Scott, Audrey Brenner, Xoxhi Close, Jacob Curryer, Jackie Davis, Jennie Goolsby, Emiliah Hoff, Zoey Koffel, Krissey Livingston, Happiness Lwakihugo, Anya Makhanov, Isabel Martinez Saldana, Zakkariah Neidhart, Mariah Parrish, Arrow Sharp, Moriah Siemon, Amelia Vargas, Shampayne Wallace, and Nash Wiese were nominated for and won the group middle school award for Art & Creativity. Congratulations to these amazing students for winning such a prestigious award!

Nomination submission for the EVMS Advanced Art group:

The students being nominated for this award are not only outstanding young artists but also exceptional members of the East Valley Middle School community. Over the past two years, their teacher has had the privilege of watching them grow into passionate, dedicated, and inspiring individuals. These students hold a special place in the school's history - as the first group in over a decade to participate in a formal art program at East Valley Middle School. Their commitment to art extends beyond the classroom, as they continually find ways to develop their craft and share their work with the larger school community. Through their persistence, creativity, and heart, they have changed the culture at East Valley for the better.

Nomination submission for Idalia Cruz and Naomi Figueroa:

Every student deserves to go to a school that feels welcoming to all. At East Valley Middle School, two students took it upon themselves to change the atmosphere that surrounded their school to just that. With the hopes of educating students and staff about various cultures and ethnicities represented in their school, they set up a multi-cultural fair to help change the perceived lack of awareness regarding individual culture and ethnic differences. Taking full initiative, they jumped through all of the hoops to create a fair that recognized a wide range of cultures.

The Spokane Scholars Foundation (SSF) was created by a group of Spokane professionals and business leaders who observed that academic excellence was not receiving appropriate recognition. Publicity seemed reserved for activities other than pure academic achievement. 

The Foundation is unwavering in its commitment to honor scholarly success, which is the product of effort and intellect. Since 1993, the Foundation has recognized excellence in academic performance. Each year the SSF hosts a public banquet bringing the region’s high school senior scholars together to recognize and celebrate their academic prowess. Since that first year, the Foundation has recognized over 3,650 scholars; selected more than 500 Award Recipients; and, distributed more than one and a half million dollars in cash awards and matches.

The Foundation states, “Our scholars have traveled the world studying and applying their education to society's most difficult challenges. The Foundation's mission is to reinforce the principle that scholarly achievement is a worthy accomplishment and that life-long learning is a reward in itself.”

We are so incredibly proud of the following seniors who represented EVHS as our 2025 Spokane Scholars:

English – Kali Lynch
Fine Arts – Hadley Forsman
Mathematics – Courtney Ward           
Science – Laina Harless
Social Studies – Lorelai Taylor
World Languages – Sara Surprise

During the month of March, many of our students engaged in the iReady diagnostic assessment to measure student learning achievement and growth. Five of our elementary and middle schools outperformed last year's efforts in reading or math! Congratulations to EVMS, Otis, and Trentwood for earning higher scores in both!

Jim Kuehnle was a Spokane Valley businessman, community leader, and legislator who believed in reward based upon merit and that people should be compensated in direct proportion to the quality of their work. To that end, this award was created to recognize teachers with high standards and excellent performance. The criteria used for selection include: dedication, motivation, honesty, diligence, and the demonstrated willingness to go above and beyond. 

East Valley is filled with educators who possess the previously mentioned qualities and attributes. The 2024-2025 Jim Kuehnle Award recipients are: Jeana Swanson, CCS; Misty Moore, East Farms, and Michelle Ries, Trent. We extend our warmest congratulations and deepest gratitude to these outstanding educators!

To ensure the safety of Washington State’s students, the Washington State Patrol (WSP) Commercial Vehicle Division conducts required and tedious inspections of all public buses owned and operated by school districts. There is a required annual inspection of 100 percent of all school buses (the “summer inspection”) and an additional unannounced inspection conducted on 25 percent of the school buses (the “winter inspection”).

Our East Valley mechanics are responsible for the maintenance of close to fifty units, including all school buses, passenger vans, and district support vehicles. Basically, if a vehicle transports students, it is included in the inspection. In early April, East Valley had its annual (summer) inspection of the entire fleet resulting in a 100% perfect score. A special shout out and congratulations to our amazing mechanics (Chris Cote and Vitalii Laptanovych) and the entire East Valley Transportation department!

The second film in the 3-part documentary series, SCREENAGERS: Next Chapter, follows filmmaker and physician Delaney Ruston as she explores the growing challenges of stress, anxiety, and depression in today's screen-filled world. Through both a personal and professional lens, Ruston shares her journey as she grapples with how to support her own teens' emotional well-being. Along the way, she examines how families and schools can better empower teens to develop emotional agility, strengthen communication, and build resilience to stress.

This is a free screening for parents, guardians, caregivers, educators, and students 13+.

📅 When: Tuesday, May 6, 2025, 6-8 pm
📍 Where: East Valley HS Commons (15711 E Wellesley Ave, Spokane Valley, WA 99216)

For more information, contact Tracie Lenihan (509) 241-5096 or lenihant@evsd.org

If your student(s) will be using the school bus for the 2025/2026 school year, it's essential to register them in advance. To complete the registration process, please visit the link below and fill out the required form:

https://www.evsd.org/page/transportation

Please note that registration is necessary to secure your student’s transportation and ensure there are no delays or issues on the first day of school.

If you have any questions or need assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to the Transportation Department at 509-241-5901. They’re here to help!

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In East Valley we create a culture of academic excellence by fostering an inclusive community where each student belongs, thrives, and is future ready.