The Cedarhurst neighborhood, students, and families all joined together on February 21 to celebrate the grand opening of Cedarhurst Elementary. Over 400 people took advantage of the opportunity to see the 67,000 square foot facility, which incorporates a highly energy-efficient, two-story plan with two classroom wings, an activities wing, and the administration area with the library above. The library features sweeping views of the surrounding mountains - for which the school's wings are named; Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Mount Olympus, and Mount Baker.

The U.W. Center for Education Leadership (CEL) brought leaders from Central Point School District in Oregon to observe Highline classrooms on February 25. The visitors spent time at Shorewood Elementary and Academy of Citizenship and Empowerment (ACE) to see how schools have incorporated literacy work and how the CEL-Highline partnership has impacted teaching and learning.

CEL has helped Highline establish new practices in literacy instruction over the past several years, resulting in significant improvements in students' reading and writing skills.

Math teachers and coaches gathered for the second district-wide math summit in February. They focused on understanding the new math standards developed by the state. District leaders had the opportunity to hear teachers' questions about how the new standards will impact teaching and learning in their classrooms.

A new math WASL will be developed to match the standards in the next 18 months. This year's 8th graders will take the new WASL in 10th grade.

The Highline Schools Foundation is accepting nominations for this year's Gold Star Awards. Nomination forms are available through school administrators and on the Foundation's website, www.fund4excellence.org.

Teachers, are you looking for ways to ramp up your instructional skills in science? Do you know a college student going into science education? A $1,500 scholarship dedicated to the promotion of equity in science and math is available through the Washington State Science Teachers Association.

A delegation of women from Iraq visited Global Connections High School last week. The women are in the US as part of the US Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program. They are here to explore the role of women as agents of social and political change in America and to share strategies with women decision-makers for promoting human and civil rights.

The guests spoke to several classes, then joined staff and students for a lunch reception.

Here's the latest progress on the new SIS:

• eSIS software is installed on district system.
• Student data for Seahurst (our pilot school) has been converted from SASI to eSIS. Seahurst is scheduled to "go live" with eSIS on March 24.
• Training for Seahurst personnel began this week.

Two wrestlers represented the Tyee Educational Complex in the state wrestling tournament last weekend.

Jesus Torres of Odyssey made it all the way to the championship round, finishing 2nd in the state.

Ben Molina of Global Connections, ranked 12th going into the tournament, made it to the third round of the tournament.

Congratulations to both wrestlers and their coaches for the great effort!

At the February 27 Board meeting, Superintendent Welch proclaimed March 3 as Read Across America day, honoring Dr. Seuss's 104th birthday.

Click here to read the proclamation.

Inside The Museum Brian Carter, Education Director; Barbara Earl Thomas, Deputy Director/Curator
The Northwest African American Museum will open its doors with exhibitions in The Journey Gallery and The Northwest Gallery. As the Museum's anchor galleries, these spaces provide the proper stage for NAAM to realize its curatorial vision, which is to tell the story of African Americans in the Northwest.

Burien, White Center, and the surrounding neighborhoods are in desperate need of foster homes. Children from this area are being transferred to Spokane, Yakima, and other communities as a result of the lack of homes here. On average, King County transfers 30 children per week to other communities - a significant number of these children should be students at Highline Public Schools. Are you able to help?