(White Center Now photos by Evan Miglorie)
“This is the biggest night in our school’s history.”

That’s what New Start High School teacher Ann Magyar told White Center Now about tonight’s graduation ceremony for New Start and Highline CHOICE Academy, the alternative programs in Highline Public Schools. You can see it in the leaping exuberance of Dewane Sauni, who’s graduating a year early (two months ago, he was chosen White Center Kiwanis Student of the Month):

Our photojournalist covering the ceremony, Evan Miglorie, reports that Dewane gave an “emotional speech,” and that another excellent speech was given by CHOICE Academy grad Megan Johnson, honored this past spring as one of America’s top youth volunteers:

The graduation filled the Log Cabin at White Center’s Steve Cox Memorial Park with xx people. Between the two schools, the grads numbered about 40 – three-fourths of them from New Start.

But according to Ann, more than 400 people showed up to cheer on those 40 grads!

“These students have worked incredibly hard and overcome a great deal to walk across that stage,” she added. Our congrats to the grads; here’s the schedule for the other graduation ceremonies coming up in the Highline district.

The Highline School Board voted unanimously last night to move ahead with a federal grant application that would require major changes at Cascade and Chinook middle schools. The grant opportunity is part of new federal regulations that identify high-poverty schools with large numbers of struggling students. In order to get the funds, districts must agree to restructure the schools by next fall.

Last week, a team of 45 people, including teachers, central office staff, parents, and community partners, gathered for a two-day summit to begin formulating a restructuring plan. Sarah Weir of the White Center Community Development Association, one of the community partners to participate on the planning team, said she left the summit “feeling really optimistic about the passion and commitment of the people who serve our kids.”

“We recognize the need for school reform. We believe all students are capable of reaching their dreams, and we’re excited about the possibilities these changes will mean for our students.” said Chinook teacher Amber Larson. She emphasized that “school staff, central office leaders, the school board, and parents all hold responsibility and need to work together to make changes.”

Theresa Carlson, Cascade teacher and vice-president of the Highline Education Association, agreed, “We need to start climbing this mountain and taking some risks. We are all in this together.”

The school board endorsed the planning team’s outline and directed the district to submit the federal grant application on Friday. Elements of the plan include

1. Increasing accountability of the school board, central office administrators, and parents, as well as teachers; and giving a senior administrator authority to make bold decisions to support the schools.
2. Increasing involvement of parents and community organizations in the schools through two-way communication, bi-lingual staff, parent advisory teams, and other means.
3. Developing new ways of evaluating staff and providing meaningful incentives for staff and administrators.
4. Rethinking the way school is delivered, such as trying innovative ways of structuring the school day.
5. Use strategies that have been successful in other high-poverty, highly diverse schools, such as adjusting schools schedules to provide more learning time.
6. Setting ambitious goals for student improvement and expecting all students to become prepared for post-high school education and the workplace.

The planning team also calls for the school district to support the restructuring plans through policy, technical assistance, commitment from the school board, and creation of a plan to sustain the changes beyond the life of the three-year grant.

Superintendent John Welch told the school board the plan “builds on the great work that is already happening and Chinook and Cascade.”

The federal accountability program requires school districts to choose one of four restructuring models:

1. Closure: Close the school and send students to other schools in the district. The school board ruled out this option for Chinook and Cascade because other middle schools do not have room to accommodate all students.
2. Restart: Open the school under a third party education management organization. This option was also rejected since charter schools are not allowed in Washington and the state has not issued a list of approved third parties.
3. Turnaround: replace principal and at least 50% of staff. This option was also eliminated.
4. Transformation: Replace the principal, reform the instructional model, develop teacher evaluations with student growth as a factor, increase community engagement, and extend learning time.

The school board decided last week to use the “transformation” model at both schools.

Highline Superintendent John Welch acknowledges that the four federal models take a narrow approach to improving student achievement. “The models imply that sole responsibility for getting middle school students to grade level is with the middle school teachers and principals,” said Welch. “We know there are other issues that need to be addressed—in elementary schools, in our system as a whole, and in the community. Still, this is an opportunity to gain some resources we haven’t had before to tackle issues at the middle school level.”

The school district expects to know by March 26 if the funds will be granted. The money could start flowing to the schools by April. If that happens, teachers would start professional development this summer. There could also be summer programs for incoming 7th graders. The schools would open in September with the changes in place.

Angelica Alvarez, the first Latino/a elected to the Highline School board, begins her first full month in office in January. Alvarez was elected in November and sworn into office in December.

Alvarez says she brings a passion for academic success for all children, regardless of the ethnic and social backgrounds. She is also interested in improving the transition from early childhood education to school, and in building collaborative, inclusive partnerships with parents.

Angelica works for the non-profit organization Child Care Resources where she promotes equity for children, building community stability, and encouraging school readiness. Her work often brings her into contact with King County’s low-income families in an effort to serve the basic needs of children. She says it is her goal is to bring these same values and skills to her work with Highline Public Schools.

The board’s next meeting is this Wednesday – more information here.

Highline Public Schools has refinanced 2002 bonds, resulting in a savings to taxpayers of more than $8 million over the next five years.

The savings flow directly to taxpayers through reduced tax levies. The dollars cannot be used for District expenses. “This is a direct savings to our community members in the form of taxes they expected to pay, but will not have to pay,” says Superintendent John Welch.

The District was able to exceed its savings target because of recent low interest rates. Interest rates averaged 6.31% on the new bonds compared to 5.33% on the old debt.

After the refinance, Moody’s Investment Services reaffirmed the district’s Aa3 bond rating on the district’s outstanding debt. The rating reflects the district’s satisfactory financial operations and its manageable debt levels. The district has a AA- rating from Standard and Poor’s.

The Highline School Board approved the issuance of refunding bonds at its December 9 meeting. The original bonds funded the replacement of ten aging schools, which opened beginning in 2004.

Teachers from the Highline School District alternative programs get ready to shop.

Last week World Vision teamed up with the Westwood Village Target to help out some local teachers and families. Everyone was given a $100 gift card then let loose in the store; families bought school clothes and teachers stocked up on school supplies. Considering that teachers spend on average $500 of their own money on school supplies each year, this was a much appreciated big deal.

We want you to be aware of a change in our school schedule. This year, school will be dismissed 90 minutes early on most Fridays. This will replace the half-day Wednesday schedule and most of the non-student “waiver” days we have had in past years. Overall, the amount of time students will spend out of the classroom is comparable to past years.

After students are dismissed on Fridays, teachers will use the time for training, professional development, and collaboration. The 90-minute sessions, called Professional Collaboration Time (PCT), will include activities such as learning new and better ways to deliver instruction, analyzing student work together, and sharing ideas and plans that will improve student performance. While you might not expect that giving time off school could lead to increased student learning, research shows that time invested in teacher training and improvement of instruction does indeed result in improved student achievement.

Students must be dismissed early in order to provide time for teacher learning and collaboration within teachers’ state-funded work day.

We recognize that shortened school days impact families and parents’ work schedules. The school district surveyed parents and teachers, and the majority preferred a weekly early release of less than two hours, versus a less frequent but longer block of time as we have had in the past.

The most significant impact will be to families of half-day Kindergarteners. Morning and afternoon classes will alternate attending school every other Friday. On Fridays, Kindergarteners will be on the same schedule as students in grades 1-6.

For example, on September 18, morning Kindergarteners will attend school the same hours as grades 1-6; afternoon Kindergarteners will have no school. On the following Friday, afternoon Kindergartners will attend school with grades 1-6; morning Kindergarteners will have no school.

We hope the consistency of the weekly early release will be beneficial for students, families, and teachers.

You can find out more at the Highline website – hsd401.org. Wednesday, September 9, is the first day of the school year – three weeks from today.

There will be two sessions at Mt. View Elementary tomorrow for parents and community members to be informed about HSD budget cuts. HSD Board Member Sili Savusa will facilitate both meetings. We hope these meetings will prepare folks for the April 27 meeting at Evergreen HS. Please see attached flyer or keep reading for more info…and again, keep spreading the word!

DISCUSS THE CUTS!
Friday, April 24
Mt. View Elementary – 10811 12th Ave SW
9:00am – 11:00am & 5:30pm – 7:00pm