New head at St. Barnabas

Terri Smith of Bainbridge Island has been named the new director of St. Barnabas Day School.

Smith has been a pediatrician with Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center for the past 13 years and for eight years was clinic chief of the AfterHours Clinics and medical advisor for the CHRMC Call Center.

She will take over the directorship from Curt Zimmerman, priest-in-charge of St. Barnabas, who will maintain oversight for the school.

Additionally, St. Barnabas Day School has hired two teachers to lead its pre-K class, Lori Kelly and Amy Brereton.

Kelly has 25 years of teaching experience. Brereton is completing her doctorate in early childhood education from Cambridge University in England.

“We are thrilled with all this new talent joining the school,” board president Katy Klinkenberg said. “Terri has tremendous experience in managing a child-focused organization. Lori and Amy are a great complimentary team. Lori supervised the Early Childhood Education program located at Bainbridge High School, and Amy was sent out by Cambridge as an advisor to early childhood programs.”

St. Barnabas Day School is a nonprofit preschool that has served island children for 37 years. Openings are available for the fall for 3- to 5-year-olds.

For information call the Day School Registrar, Bridgette Carney-Woods, at 855-8969.

Dial ‘211’ for services

A new “211” system that provides a direct path to information on local social services will begin testing in Kitsap County this month, and should be functional sometime in the fall.

“There are 500 different programs and agencies providing human services in the peninsula region,” said Washington Information Network 211 Executive Director Tom Page. “Even those who know a lot about these services cannot know them all.

“This service makes it easy for people to find out what is available and helps them to get connected to the service that will resolve their problems.”

The 211 service will operate in the same way as information (411), transportation (511) or emergency service (911) in its ability to provide a convenient hotline to a specific service.

Page said the goal is to operate around the clock throughout the state. At first, local service will be routed to a Bremerton call center with two or three employees. Hours of operation have not been determined.

The United Way of Kitsap County is providing the initial funding for the program, with additional money coming from state and federal sources. Page said the availability of the funding will determine when it moves to 24/7 service.

Establishment of a 211 system comes as part of a national network.

The Federal Communications Commission assigned the digits for the purpose of providing quick access to information about health and relief services, particularly in a natural disaster or emergency.

The state of Washington had specific requirements for its 211 solution provider, including fast installation, intelligent routing, scalability and home worker support for emergencies, ability to integrate with existing and new contact center equipment and the support for a large database.

Page said as the system grows, many of those answering the phone will be volunteers or people working out of their homes.

A remote worker system will better serve the public during a pandemic flu outbreak, as congregating in a large call center could actually spread the disease.

Dr. Scott Lindquist, Kitsap County Health District Director, thinks that 211 will cut through some of the confusion in accessing social services.

“There are a lot of services in Kitsap County and it’s not necessary to go elsewhere to get what you need,” he said. “But a lot of people don’t know where these services are.

“Hopefully, 211 will have the information organized so the end user can get to it, since many of the listings in the phone book are too confusing.”

Growth group to meet again

The 2025 Growth Advisory Committee public meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. July 10 in the council chambers at City Hall.

The agenda for “A Community Conversation About Growth” includes:

• 6:30 p.m. – Meet and Greet. View displays on the island’s constraints and opportunities. Discuss issues and express individual thoughts and ideas.

• 6:55 p.m. – Introduction

• 7:05 p.m. – Remarks by Mayor Darlene Kordonowy

• 7:15 p.m. – Overview. The Committee’s Work. Patty Fielding, 2025 committee chair

• 7:25 p.m. – Questions and Answers. The Mayor and 2025 committee members

• 7:45 p.m. – Small Group Conversations. “What three concerns do you have with growth?” “What creative ideas do you have for addressing those concerns?”

• 8:30 p.m. – Wrap-up. Share “epiphanies” or “aha’s.”

Contact the 2025 Growth Advisory Committee through the city’s Planning Department, 842-2552, or email pcd@ci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us or Patty Fielding, atpbfielding@msn.com.

For more information, visit the 2025 Population Allocation Study page at www.ci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us.