Skip To Main Content
First day of the 2026-27 school year

A Message from Superintendent Greg Baker

Dear staff, families, students and community members,

Happy first day of the 2026-27 school year!

As a longtime educator, it’s always an exciting day with students, staff and families experiencing joy and anticipation.  

I was able to get into a number of schools today and I love seeing the smiles, connections, high fives and hugs between staff, families and students.

Here are a few photos from our first day.

 

Four side-by-side photos showing students in educational settings: a student writing at a desk, two students standing outdoors with backpacks, three students standing together outside, and a student wearing a backpack and carrying a smartphone on a high school campus path.

 

A four-image collage highlighting back-to-school experiences. From left to right: two students wearing backpacks standing in front of a welcome-back display; the exterior of a school building with school buses parked outside; a close-up of a back-to-school coloring worksheet featuring school-themed illustrations and words; and a student seated in a classroom, viewed from the side, with other students and classroom furnishings visible in the background.

 

On Wednesday, we’ll welcome our youngest learners. Our first day for preschool, kindergarten and Promise kindergarten is Sept. 2.

If you are new to our district, you will see our schools and district are full of people who want to help and support you. Our strategic plan, The Bellingham Promise, guides our work and emphasizes one of our core values “together we achieve more,” which is our theme for the 2026-27 school year. I know we’ll face challenges. We will also reach milestones and have reasons to celebrate – and we will be stronger together.

One more note: in case you missed it, we hosted hundreds of students and families Aug. 22 at Bellingham High School for our sixth annual Block Party. We thank our many community partners who help prepare our students for a great year ahead. Thanks to the generous support of local nonprofits and businesses, hundreds of students walked away with backpacks, books, haircuts and physicals necessary for athletics. This is an outstanding example of working together to achieve more.

Please reach out if you have any questions,

Greg Baker

Reply to: greg.baker@bellinghamschools.org

 

  • All Schools