Hundreds of community and family members joined staff and students of Shorewood Elementary as they proudly celebrated their new facility on September 19. Principal Deborah Holcomb emceed a program with photos and stories of life at Shorewood - from the old school, through demolition and construction, to the beautiful new learning space. Students and staff led tours of the building and shared dinner with their visitors, courtesy of Hutteball & Oremus Architecture and Berschauer Phillips Construction.

When teachers from Sylvester Middle School gathered last Friday to work on improving instruction, a camera crew was there to capture their work together. Sylvester will be featured in a video that is part of the Leadership Toolkit for Change, a project of Vulcan Productions, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and Boston-based Education Development Center.

Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries-Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.

It does not take a rocket scientist to know that elementary and middle school teachers do not jump from 55 foot high towers, fly space shuttles, or make alien subject matter like science and math come to life - or do they? For five days in July, three Highline School District teachers rediscovered the weightless joy of learning while building innovative new methods to inspire learners through math and science at the 17th Annual Boeing Educators SPACE CAMP in Huntsville, Ala.

The new student information system is coming online. Here's the latest:

Highline High School and Sylvester Middle School have joined Seahurst Elementary School in piloting eSIS. Both schools converted data from SASI to eSIS this summer and started the 08/09 school year with eSIS as their main system.

Elementary schools are next to go live with eSIS. Preparations are underway and a training schedule has been developed for elementary staff. "Sneak Peak" training opportunities have been provided to staff at ERAC and will continue until the next elementary sites go live.

Anyone using eSIS must attend a training before getting an eSIS account. No one will be allowed access without the training. Training rooms have been created at Woodside (room 9 and 10) for eSIS and Data Warehouse training. The Data Warehouse contains information from both SASI and eSIS.

Jennifer Edwards has been hired as a site support person and help desk generalist. A help desk has been established for the sites that go live with eSIS (includes email and phone).

Materials (training materials, FAQs, Shortcuts, Reports, Status, etc.) are on the Intranet \\eracinet\intranet (available only from inside the district. An eSIS newsletter will be distributed monthly.

Students at Aviation High School and Midway Elementary had a rare opportunity to spend an hour with a member of an elite club - The Association of Space Explorers (ASE) - astronauts and cosmonauts who have all orbitted the earth at least once. Astronaut Charles Walker mesmerized the students as he related his experiences in space. Walker connected his NASA training and work in the space laboratory directly to high school courses - helping students see the relevance of their day-to-day studies. He also highlighted a number of interesting career opportunities, in addition to being an astronaut, associated with the space program.

Madrona Elementary's third grade team noticed a disturbing trend at the beginning of this school year...their students had a case of the "I Can'ts." Together, the team decided to hold a funeral for "I Can't" and move their students to a more positive frame of mind. Here's the eulogy the students read as part of the activity.

Join the Highline Schools Foundation on October 18th for a fun-filled evening at our 2008 Oktoberfest celebration - featuring a traditional brats dinner, silent and live auctions, dancing, and the SNEAK PREVIEW of a short film with local ties, "The Day My Parents Became Cool."

Hundreds of Highline middle school students have applied for the state College Bound Scholarship, which pays for four years of college tuition, fees, and books for students who stay in school, stay out of trouble, and keep their grades up. Low-income students and students in foster care are eligible for the scholarship.

Highline Public Schools has been recognized by Puget Sound Energy as one of the five 2008 Power Players Award winners for exemplary commitment to energy efficiency and environmental stewardship.

Evergreen's Bethany Tate loves to coach because she loves to teach - teaching her volleyball team to be students, athletes and classy young women, making her one of our picks for the Christian Faith Center Coach who Makes a Difference.

Highline Public Schools and the City of Burien are now offering housing incentives to newly-hired teachers in an innovative program geared toward attracting and keeping quality teachers in high-demand academic areas. The program offers a $250 monthly housing subsidy to up to 20 new teachers. Next year, another 20 new teachers will be offered the benefit. The program targets teachers in high-demand subjects such as math, science, or special education.

Over 200 students received free school-ready vaccines as a result of a joint effort between Highline Medical Group (HMG) and the district nursing staff.

The Powell and Heller Families' Second Annual Conference on the Holocaust will be held on the PLU campus October 20-21. The event begins with an evening lecture on Monday and a full-day of sessions on Tuesday.

The conference is designed for teachers and others who are not experts on WWII or the Holocaust. There is no cost for attendees as it's fully funded through the endowment. Anyone involved in civics, social studies, history would find this interesting.

Pre-registration is not necessary for clock-hours, however all teachers interested in receiving clock hours should register on-site at 8:30 a.m. on October 21.  For further information, please contact Dr. Robert P. Ericksen, the Kurt Mayer Professor of Holocaust Studies Email: ericksrp@plu.edu, Phone: (253) 535-7591.