To our readers:

Bellevue West Publications staffs will continue creating the yearbook and publishing articles and videos on The Thunderbeat through the end of the school year. But since our top priority right now is to keep our student-journalists safe, how we continue will look a little different. We are following Bellevue Public Schools’ COVID-19 learning plan by providing optional reporting opportunities to those who wish to report and have access to necessary tools like the internet, Adobe programs, and cameras.

We won’t post as much content as we usually do on our website, but we’re aiming to publish some form of reporting every week. A lot of our reporting will focus on how the COVID-19 global pandemic is affecting Bellevue West and the community, but we won’t abandon covering everything else that still affects students and families, like school policy, pop culture, student profiles, and more.

Our staff will complete the yearbook, but as of right now, we don’t know when or how we will distribute them to students. Yearbook adviser Aaron Stueve is in the process of sending out senior dedication proofs to parents as well as proofs of the people section to students to check for errors. Stueve will also send out a list of yearbook pre-orders soon. Please contact him at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.

Even though many unknowns arise each day with COVID-19 and its effects on daily life, our goal is to continue reporting on and investigating the topics that matter to our community. Thanks for staying with us, thanks for reading, and we hope you are safe and healthy.