Thoreau Photos

Our History:
Henry David Thoreau Elementary is a K-6 public school located in Kirkland, Washington. We are a neighborhood school and part of the Juanita Region in the Lake Washington School District. We serve approximately 375 students from families in our community. Our mascot is the "frog" due to the fact that our building site was originally a frog pond.

The property at the corner of 84th and N.E. 138th was a swampy place when the LWSD determined to use that piece of land as a building site. Lots of material was brought in for fill in order to build our school. Finally, school opened in the Fall of 1963. The pond to the west of the building, near the fence, was a popular spot to spend hours enjoying the frogs. We opened with 501 kids in September 1963. Within 5 years, our school population was 1,000!

The principal who opened our school was Wayne Stenson. He knew the Finn Hill area quite well. Wayne's time was shared between Little League Baseball and school activities. A Little League player whom he recalls is Eddie Johnson. In the 1960's talented District Cooks staffed Thoreau Elementary’s kitchen. They made cinnamon rolls from scratch in the early mornings much to the delight of students and staff!

One Spring, when the frogs appeared we decided to have a "frog jumping" contest. This then was the first original Ribbet Run event at Thoreau. Some rules were generated about capturing a frog and then later transferring it back to nature after the contest, of course. Each student who entered the contest named his or her frog. One intermediate student named his frog after his teacher, "Miss Grenier". When the Eastside Journal reporter came out that afternoon to cover the contest, he saw that frog WIN and the next morning's headlines read: Miss Grenier Jumps To Victory!

Students at Thoreau continue to enjoy the frog theme plus the annual Ribbit Run Contest held each fall. To further continue the fond memories, Thoreau is now finding that children of former students are currently attending Henry David Thoreau Elementary School.

Lake Washington School District Mission:
The district's vision is to offer a world-class education to all learners. The LWSD mission is to treat all students as valued customers and to guarantee that all learners will be provided the support to achieve a world-class education.

Statement of Educational Philosophy of Henry David Thoreau Elementary:
We BELIEVE that children should strive to achieve at their maximum ability in school. This attitude supports the dignity and importance of hard work and the idea that school activities should be challenging. Whether the work is in the field of art, mathematics, music, language arts, physical education, or science, the student should be challenged to the maximum of their ability.

We BELIEVE that children differ in their abilities to learn, and as educators we are obligated to recognize these individual differences in the methods used in teaching and the organization of various programs.

We BELIEVE that children should exhibit acceptable behavior in school and at home. We believe that they should conform to reasonable rules and regulations and that this concept should be a point of departure in establishing programs in schools. It is necessary for rules to be established that students be informed of these rules, and that adult leadership enforces these rules.

We BELIEVE that the teachers' and parents' role is that of a team, providing leadership in establishing favorable behavior patterns. Pupils should be permitted to participate in making decisions in direct relationship to their maturity and readiness to accept this responsibility with the ultimate goal of self-discipline.

We BELIEVE that good teaching requires careful planning.

We BELIEVE that school attendance should be characterized by positive experiences. These experiences should grow out of the satisfaction of successes achieved.

We BELIEVE that in order for a child to become a happy, healthy, useful person, within our democratic society, he/she must be a self-directed, self-disciplined individual.