White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Outdoors and indoors, it was designed by kids, and enjoyed by kids, as White Center Heights Elementary put on a STEAM carnival to remember on Monday. The “A” is of course for Art, like this recycled-material octopus – which also embodied the “S,” teaching an anatomy lesson:

Across the gym …

And back outside …

A little adult support, too, like Charlie from Squirrel Butter:

And the North Highline Fire District:

Just two more days left in the school year – Wednesday’s the last day!

Show support for local students – and have fun! Tomorrow, you’re invited to the student-planned-and-presented carnival at White Center Heights Elementary. From teacher Shoshanna Cohen:

Our fifth and sixth graders at White Center Heights Elementary are embarking on a fantastic project to design, plan, and implement the school carnival through S.T.E.A.M. (Science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics).

The carnival will be held on June 18th, 2018 at

White Center Heights Elementary, located at: 10015 6th Ave SW

4:30 pm-6:30 pm

This carnival will be open to our 750 students and the surrounding community. Please come, play, and support our incredible scholars! The students have designed games such as an Angry Birds Launcher, a Life-size Plinko Board, a Strongman Leapfrog Game, and many, many more! We will also have a fire truck, an inflatable maze, live music, bbq, snacks, and wonderful raffle prizes donated by community businesses. Hope to see you there!

Sun’s out and it looks like an ice-cream kind of day. (OK, every day looks like an ice-cream kind of day.) If you go to Full Tilt Ice Cream in downtown White Center today (open noon-10 pm) and show this flyer with your purchase, 10 percent of the proceeds will benefit the ASB (student-body organization) at nearby Chief Sealth International High School.

Our first video clip includes the 17 seconds of silence observed by Evergreen High School and Cascade Middle School students this morning as they joined in the national student walkouts marking one month since the school massacre in Florida. They also chanted and heard fellow students’ speeches before going back to class after about 20 minutes of gathering.

Thanks to the students who invited us to be there to cover their gathering in the lot on the northwest side of campus.

ADDED: Video of the students who spoke:

Just out of the inbox, from Highline Public Schools:

Highline Public Schools Invites Community to Talk Safety
Meetings on School Safety Begin March 22

In response to recent incidents of school violence, Highline Public Schools is initiating a conversation with the community around school safety. Community meetings are being held at the four comprehensive high schools. Families, community members, and staff are invited to learn about safety plans and procedures and engage in a conversation about how to work together to improve school safety.

Thursday, March 22, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Evergreen High School library
830 SW 116th Street

Thursday, April 19, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Highline High School library
225 South 152nd Street, Burien

Tuesday, May 1, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Tyee High School library
4424 South 188th Street, SeaTac

Thursday, May 10, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Mount Rainier High School library
22450 19th Avenue South, Des Moines

(UPDATED 6:25 AM)

The snow has stopped, but what’s on the ground has stayed. School changes:

From Highline Public Schools:

Holy Family Bilingual School – 1 hour late. BASS available at 8, school starts at 9

Anything else we should know? Text or call our 24/7 hotline – 206-293-6302 – thanks!

From Highline Public Schools:

It appears the Highline Public Schools levy measure will pass, with early results showing 57.67 percent voting in favor of renewal.

“I am grateful to voters for their support of our students and schools. Local funding for our schools is critical,” said Superintendent Susan Enfield. “It allows us to provide the quality education our community expects for our children, which goes beyond the minimum funded by the state.”

The levy bridges the gap between what the state funds and the education Highline provides students. The approved levy pays for critical needs, including teachers, staff, school nurses, safety and security officers, counselors, social workers, special education, Camp Waskowitz and athletics.

Want to help Highline College pick its next president? You don’t have to go far. This announcement includes word of a “listening session” coming up in White Center:

As part of its presidential search process, Highline College trustees will hold several listening sessions to learn what community members are looking for in the college’s next leader.

Sessions are scheduled in several locations throughout South King County and are open to all:

— Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m.: Wiley Center Neighborhood House at Greenbridge

— Dec. 6, daytime sessions: Highline College main campus, Building 2 (times will be posted at highline.edu/presidential-search-listening-sessions once they are available)

— Dec. 11, 6:30 p.m.: Federal Way Library, Meeting Room 2

Trustees will use what they learn at the sessions to help create the presidential profile. Profiles often outline general duties and desired qualities or characteristics.

Highline’s board is responsible for selecting and employing the college president. It is composed of community members from Highline’s service area of South King County: Dan Altmayer and Bob Roegner, both of Federal Way; Debrena Jackson Gandy, Des Moines; Fred Mendoza, Normandy Park; and Sili Savusa, White Center.

To learn what has happened to date in the search for Highline’s next leader, visit the Presidential Search news page.

(Highline Public Schools photo from June)

Organizers tell us “the whole community” is invited – so that means you, if you can be there! At 11 am tomorrow – Tuesday (September 26th) – a new playground will be dedicated for the Head Start program at White Center Heights Elementary (10015 6th SW). Seattle Seahawks player Tyler Lockett is scheduled to be there, along with leaders from UnitedHealthcare, Highline Public Schools, and the Puget Sound Educational Service District. UnitedHealthcare provided a $15,000 grant to Lockett’s Dreambuilders program to pay for the new playground and equipment.

Evergreen High School is again Evergreen High School, and you’re invited to the “grand reopening” next Wednesday. Here’s the announcement:

Date: Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Time: 6:45 am – 9:30 am
Address: 830 SW 116th St

Evergreen High School administration would like to invite parents, alumni, and community members to join them for the grand (re)opening of Evergreen High School!

Help welcome our students back to campus at a morning rally in the front of the school with the Evergreen band, cheerleaders, and Wolverine mascot! Meet school leaders at a community reception in the Library and learn more about exciting plans for Evergreen and ways to help. Join students at an all-school assembly in the Main Gym to kick off the school year and help us hand out EHS sweatshirts. Finally, tour campus to see improvements for this school year but also the need for updated facilities because our students deserve a high-quality learning environment.

Tentative schedule:
Check-in begins at 6:30am in the Main Office
6:45am – Welcome Rally – Front of School
7:30am – Community Reception – Library
8:00am – Back to School Assembly and hand out sweatshirts – Main Gym
Campus tour to follow

Questions? Email us at friends@evergreensuccess.org

(Photo courtesy West Seattle Montessori: Former library, new enrichment center)

The former White Center Library is becoming an “enrichment center” for neighboring West Seattle Montessori School & Academy. Here’s the announcement:

West Seattle Montessori School & Academy, a Pre-K through 8th grade school serving West Seattle, White Center, North Highline, and Burien families since 1985, is pleased to announce exciting changes this coming school year.

*A fifth pre-primary classroom (2½ – 6 year-olds) will be opening this fall.

*A new enrichment center will be opening this coming school year, located in White Center’s former King County Library. This enrichment center will be home to a performance stage area, kids’ kitchen, and a student-run store, The Owl’s Nest. This new community-centered space will extend student learning and cultivate all-school connections.

West Seattle Montessori School & Academy strives to create an environment where students embrace differences and can connect on compassionate levels with others and the world around them. West Seattle Montessori School & Academy is still accepting applications for the 2017-2018 school year.

The school’s open-house dates looking beyond this coming school year are already set, for preschool through 8th grade – November 7th, 6 pm-7:30 pm; January 27 (2018), 1 pm-3 pm; March 7, 6-7:30 pm. The school is at 11215 15th SW.

It’s the first week of summer vacation for Highline Public Schools students – last Friday (June 16th) was the last day of the school year. The calendar on the HPS website says students’ first day back will be September 6th.

From Highline Public Schools – this is happening tonight:

Meet the Finalists for the New Evergreen High School Principal

The small schools on the Evergreen Campus are unifying as a single school under the leadership of one principal. We invite students, families, and the community to join us for a Principal Candidate Forum to meet the two finalists for the new principal at Evergreen High School.

Principal Candidate Forum
Wednesday, February 15
6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Evergreen Campus Cafeteria
830 SW 116th St.

At the forum, attendees will have an opportunity to ask the finalists questions and provide the district feedback.

Vietnamese and Spanish interpreters will be at the meeting.

Learn more about the reunification process at highlineschools.org/highschools.

4:24 AM: Lots more snow overnight and so we start with big news:

HIGHLINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, CLOSED TODAY:

More to come.

7:30 AM: White Center’s Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School is closed today too, as are other independent schools – Shorewood Christian, Explorer West Middle among them. Buses are on snow routes, and roads are snowy, so don’t go out if you don’t absolutely have to!

You are invited! Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School welcomes everyone to Charlie Brown Bingo Night, 6-9 pm tonight in the school gym. HF says, “This is a great opportunity to help our school to buy resources while you are enjoying delicious food and winning great prizes.” The school is just north of the church, at 20th SW and SW Roxbury.

Looking for school(s) for next year? Thursday night brings a chance to find out more about West Seattle Montessori School and Academy in White Center. From 6 to 7:30 pm, the open house “gives parents and prospective families a chance to meet our staff, teachers and tour the facilities. You’ll be able to view samples of student work and pick up application materials. Our teachers and staff are available during and after the Open House to answer questions.” WSMS & WMA are at 11215 15th SW.

Thanks to Sarah Fox for the photo from White Center Heights Elementary, which is joining in today’s regional #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool solidarity action, as noted here earlier this week.

Received this afternoon:

Upwards of sixty White Center Heights Elementary staff plan to participate in the October 19 #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool action by wearing Black Lives Matter shirts to school “to address institutionalized racism in our schools and offer a space for dialogue among school staff.”

The action, which is taking place in schools across Seattle, demonstrates that educators across the city stand together with the community of John Muir Elementary, which received racist threats in response to their planned Black Men United to Change the Narrative event last month.

White Center Heights staff members are hoping to spark a larger conversation in our classrooms, across our community and the Highline School District at large.

Any other local schools participating? Please let us know!

If you’re interested in the campaign to turn the Evergreen Campus back into Evergreen High School, you’ll want to know about a doubleheader meeting there tomorrow – a school board work session on “small schools,” 5-6 pm, followed by a community meeting at 6. Full details here.

6:43 AM: From King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West:

Just before 1 am, King County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a burglary alarm at Cascade Middle School in the 11200 block of 10 Ave SW in White Center.

When deputies arrived, they found at least 2 windows had been broken out and it appeared the suspect(s) were still inside the school. The suspect(s) ran as deputies entered the school.

While searching the school, deputies found 2 small fires that had been set. (North Highline Fire District) responded to extinguish the fires.

King County detectives are investigating the burglary and arsons and said the school had been broken into once before within the last couple of weeks. A fire had been started at that break-in also.

10:12 AM UPDATE: We went by the school, which is open. Out front, we saw both the “ARSON” sign shown atop this story, and the multiple school-security cars in the photo above this line. We’ll be following up with KCSO later today.