Bow Lake Elementary students and staff hosted over 400 members of their families and community on January 24 to celebrate the grand opening of their new school. Students provided entertainment and served as tour guides as friends and neighbors streamed in to see the new facility. One particular item of interest was a large mosaic art piece in the hallway - the work of Bow Lake students.

The Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence has announced its Excel and MAD grants. The Foundation will give nearly $37,000 in grants this year, a 26% increase over last year.

After an extensive national search, Angus Mairs has been hired as the new Executive Director of K-12 Curriculum Design and Alignment. Mr. Mairs has been in K-12 education for the past 20 years, as a math teacher, educational technology consultant, university researcher, and central office administrator. For the past few years, he has been deputy director of the High School Transformation Project in Chicago, with a focus on instructional design. He will begin in Highline officially on March 3 and is eager to get out to schools to talk with teachers and principals.

Patricia Pineda, left, group vice president of Toyota Motor North America, reads with kindergartner Dallana Torres, as her mother, Maria Mora, looks on. White Center Heights, Beverly Park, and Mount View elementary schools were awarded a $600,000 grant by Toyota to fund a family literacy program, aimed at boosting the literacy skills of Latino and other immigrant children and their parents. Parents of students enrolled in the program spend several hours each week learning to read English along with their children in the classroom. Parents also receive English instruction separate from the children.

Thrive by Five Washington and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will give $11.7 million to expand early learning opportunities in White Center.

This unique collaboration of public agencies, community groups, and private caregivers aims to ensure all children birth to 5 have access to positive learning environments.

Highline Public Schools is in the process of developing an online student information system (SIS) that will store all student data – grades, testing information, emergency contacts, and much more. The new system will allow teachers and administrators – and later, parents—quick access to information that will help them meet students' educational needs.

Senior Gabriela Osorio presented two sessions at the annual Latino Educational Achievement Progress (LEAP) conference in Tacoma in January. In her first presentation, "Rejected Dreams," Gabriela spoke to an audience of 400 about how she used her senior project to educate the community about the DREAM Act—a law that would create a path to citizenship for undocumented students who graduate from college in the U.S.

Sonics players Kevin Durante, Damien Wilkins, Jeff Green, and Kurt Thomas came to Sylvester Middle School for a celebration of Black History Month. The players recited excerpts from the powerful and inspiring story, The Eagles Who Thought They Were Chickens: A Tale of Discovery, while youth performers from Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center acted out scenes of eagles who gain self-esteem and learn of their culture and heritage.

Sylvester students and parents attended the evening event.

Pictured in photo:(l-r) Sonics Kurt Thomas, Kevin Durante, Jeff Green.

Award-winning Vietnamese American author Bich Minh Nguyen visited Odyssey this month to read from her new book and answer questions from the student body.

Evergreen football player Vincente Cordova has received a full academic scholarship at the University of Washington and has been invited to turn out for the Husky football team as a walk-on.

Six of his teammates signed letters-of-intent to play for college teams.

Pictured in photo: (l-r) Luther Leonard, Corey Laufasa, Kirt Terry-Springs, Senio Kelemete, Kyle Tunney, Vincente Cordova, Johnny Jackson

Mount Rainier senior Sarah Martinez will go to the University of Washington this fall, and has signed a letter-of-intent to play soccer for the Huskies.

Darren Rawie, athletic director at MRHS observed,"Sarah has been an outstanding role model for athletes at Mount Rainier. She competes at the highest level, never complains about her environment, and is a great person to have in class. We will miss her at Mount Rainier, but our loss is the University of Washington's gain."

A February 13 basketball game organized by Mount Rainier High School Student Leadership brought in $5,000 for the foundation established in honor of Gloria Strauss, daughter of Kennedy High School boy's basketball coach Doug Strauss. The tournament pitted South King County Fire District against the Des Moines Police Department and Kennedy staff against Mount Rainier staff.

Recently Highline's community engagement team trained staff and parents from nine schools as well as representatives from community-based organizations in a parent leadership curriculum developed by the Mexican American Legal and Educational Defense Fund (MALDEF). The curriculum helps parents learn about the American school system, focusing on a broad range of topics from talking with teachers about their child's progress in school to running for school board.

More trainings will be offered in the coming months.

Last year, the family of Stephen Magnenat donated $50,000 to create an endowment for a Waskowitz scholarship fund. The interest from this endowment will be used to provide needed funds to Highline Public Schools sixth-grade students who can not afford the Waskowitz fee.

Puget Sound ESD and Seattle University present the Equity in Education Speaker Series. These workshops will engage you in a thoughtful and compassionate exploration of racism and how it manifests in our culture. Each session will leave you with an awareness of the degree to which racism and other diversity issues impact student learning.

Des Moines Elementary Principal Karin Jones and Midway Elementary Principal Ben Gauyan join principals from nearby elementary schools and Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke at the grand opening of the new Redondo Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer donated 1,000 books to each elementary school in the area to celebrate the store's opening.

Kindergarten classes at Beverly Park had a visit from the State Farm 'Neigh Bear' to teach students when and how to call 911. Students talked about the differences between emergencies and non-emergency situations, learned a chant to help them remember "911," and practiced calling 911 on a phone with a simulated dispatcher. State Farm Insurance Company donated their time and resources to make the lesson possible.

Upcoming Events

02/21/08
Cedarhurst Grand Opening
5:30-7:15 p.m.

02/21/08
Evergreen Campus - High School Fair

02/26/08
Tyee Educational Complex - High School Fair

02/26/08
Gangs in Your Community Forum Click for flyer...>

03/06/08
Mount Rainier - High School Fair

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