Dr. Steve Grubb Named Next Principal of McMicken Heights

Dr. Steve Grubb will be principal of McMicken Heights Elementary school starting July 1, replacing Tom Symons who has resigned his position effective the end of this year.

Dr. Grubb currently serves as Executive Director of Elementary and Middle Schools in the north end of Highline School District. Due to budget cuts and the elimination of central office administrator positions, he has been reassigned to a new position, McMicken Principal/Systems Improvement Lead.

Dr. Grubb will lead the work of piloting new ways of measuring student progress at McMicken that will lead to improved support of schools district-wide. He will also mentor new Highline principals.

"I want to thank Steve for his thoughtful leadership and excellent work supervising elementary and middle schools. His skills and dedication are unquestioned," says Superintendent John Welch. "I am grateful to be able to deploy him in a new way to help us move our work forward."

33rd District Legislators to Host Education Forum March 14

The 33th District’s state legislators will host a forum on K-12 education in Kent on Saturday, March 14. Senator Karen Keiser and Representatives Dave Upthegrove and Tina Orwall invite you to join them for a presentation on education policy and finance reform.

They will be joined by the Vice Chair of the Education Appropriations Committee, Rep. Pat Sullivan, who will give you a broad look at what is being done to make sure Washington kids are equipped to face the challenges of the future.

The event is free and open to the public.

Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 1:00 p.m.

Kent City Hall Council Chambers

220 Fourth Ave S, Kent.

College Bound Scholarship Supported

The school board has passed a resolution in support of the Washington College Bound Scholarship. The scholarship pays for books and tuition at any state institution for low income students who pledge to graduate from high school, maintain good grades, and demonstrate good citizenship. Students must sign up by the end of eighth grade.

Read the resolution…

Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce Names Students of the Month

Two Highline students have been selected as Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce students of the month.

Kyle Andrews, a senior at Highline High School, is known for his energy, enthusiasm, and an aspiration for excellence. He has been a very active leader, holding the offices of Sophomore Class Vice President, Junior Class President, Senior Class Treasurer, and National Honor Society Treasurer. Kyle is both a creative songwriter and a talented musician. In addition, he was Co-Captain of the tennis team and was honored by his peers when they voted him Homecoming King. He is also a very talented tutor, generously helping many students achieve academic success. His honesty, sincerity, and dependability, combined with modesty and humility sum up to a truly exceptional young man.

From Mount Rainier High School is senior Alyssa Lew. Alyssa is involved in myriad activities and is considered a remarkable student and an outstanding leader. She is a full International Baccalaureate diploma candidate, which means she is part of a very rigorous college-level academic program. She is the president of the DECA marketing club at Mount Rainier and has qualified to compete at the state career development conference in two separate categories. Alyssa is committed to excellence; when she takes on a task she always puts forth her best effort. Teacher Frank Brandt says of Alyssa, "In my 10 years of teaching, I cannot remember ever having a student so gifted in such a wide range of activities."

Puget Sound Skills Center Hosts Open House

Puget Sound Skills Center will host an open house on March 24 at 5:00 p.m. This is an opportunity for students and parents to check out PSSC’s many vocational programs and meet the teachers. PSSC offers 17 programs in information technology, business/management/marketing, human services, science/health, and trades/industry.

PSSC programs are open to high school juniors and seniors.

Applications for PSSC summer programs will be accepted starting April 28.

Math Parent Guides

Elementary and middle school students in Highline Public Schools study mathematics using the Investigations curriculum in grades K-5 and Connected Math Project 2 (CMP2) in grades 6-8. These curricula emphasize a conceptual understanding of math relationships, but also include knowledge and practice of basic algorithms and math facts. Research shows that a balance between conceptual and computational skills is important for high-level student achievement in math.

The way math is taught using these curricula is quite different from the math instruction of past decades. It may be a challenge helping your child with math if the material is unfamiliar to you. The links below are a resource to help you understand the thinking and operations behind Investigations, Connected Math, and CMP2.

http://www.phschool.com/cmp2/parent_guide.html

http://connectedmath.msu.edu/parents/

http://investigations.terc.edu/library/#a_forfamilies

DECA Students Advance to International Competition

On March 5 -7, nine Global Connections High School students attended the DECA State Competition in Bellevue. Seven students placed as overall winners and will advance on to the International DECA Competition in Anaheim, California in April.

Matt Kennedy and Jimmy Cheng placed fifth in the Internet Marketing event. Crystal Rivera and Charizz Legaspi placed fifth in the Learn and Earn Project; they showcased the Global Connections 2008 Italian Dinner and Auction. Sara Flores, Cortney Hines, and Ravyn Guy took first place in the Learn and Earn Project for their presentation on Tyee’s annual holiday bazaar.

To raise funds for students’ expenses to travel to the International Competition, the Global Connections DECA chapter will host the 2009 Italian Dinner and Auction in the Tyee Cafeteria on April 8, 5 - 7:30 pm. All are welcome; tickets are $8 available in advance and at the door.

To donate an auction item, read the letter and get the form.

Global Connections Students Promote Environmental Sustainability

Eleven teams of marketing students from Global Connections High School are working on various global sustainability projects. To fund their projects, they applied for grants from the Sustainable Seattle Organization. All 11 grants were approved in full or in part for a total of $1,794 in grant funds. Projects include:

• A Day of Darkness - On March 2, Global Connections went without lights, computers, projectors, and other electric equipment for one day.
• Tree planting - Students are working with Highline Public Schools’ facilities department to plant trees on school grounds.
• Garden planting- Students will plant a garden with foot path, solar garden lights, and a rain barrel.
• What’s Recyclable/What’s Not - Students are developing a PowerPoint presentation to be shown to all advisory classes.
• Recycle bin labeling - Can/bottle recycle cans will be positioned around campus with student artwork labeling the receptacles as recycling only.
• The Greenest Advisory Class- This is a competition to see which advisory class can demonstrate the most "green" practices.
• Food drive with sustainable field trip - Advisory class bringing in the most non-perishable food will earn a field trip; food collected will be donated to local food bank.
• Reusable item drive -Advisory classes will compete in a drive to bring in the most reusable items. Items will be donated to Goodwill.
• Recycled paper cards - Students will create hand-made paper using material from the computer lab’s recycle bin and use it to make greeting cards.
• Art from garbage - Advisory classes are being challenged to pick up garbage on campus and construct an art project out of what they find.
• Organic tote bags - Students have designed a logo promoting "green" living and found a company who will print the logo on organic cotton bags. Tote bags are being sold on campus.

Parent Creates Running Start Book Exchange

Running Start students now have access to an exchange where they can buy and sell used textbooks. Melissa Lang, the mother of a Running Start student and also a district employee, is coordinating the exchange. She will create the spreadsheet of all textbooks available for purchase each quarter and email the list to subscribers. Students may then contact one another directly to arrange the sale/purchase of books.

"It's a win-win," says Melissa. "Everyone can save on their books."

Students in the Running Start program attend classes at a local community college for college credit while they are still enrolled in high school. Because these are college classes, students must purchase their own textbooks.

For more information, contact Melissa by email.

School Retirees Appreciation Week

At the March 11 Board meeting, Superintendent Welch presented a proclamation to Mary Wining, Highline Retirees’ Association representative, celebrating School Retirees Appreciation Week, March 16-22.

TEC Student Raises Funds to Help a High School in Need

In February, Miles Partman, a junior at Evergreen TEC High School, organized a drive for new and used books, magazines, videos, and DVDs. The aim is to sell all of the donated items to Half Priced Books to help Capital High School in Olympia.

On Christmas Day, heavy snow caused Capital High’s roof to collapse, damaging the school library. Miles plans to send the proceeds to Olympia School District to help pay for new materials.

Caption: Student Miles Partman loads boxes of donated books from the district’s transportation staff onto a school bus for delivery to TEC.

Highline Administrator Elected to State Association Board

Dr. Kathryn Sprigg, assistant director of accountability, has been elected to the board of the Washington Education Research Association (WERA). WERA is a not-for-profit organization of professionals working at all levels of education dedicated to improving the practice of instruction, assessment, evaluation, conducting and applying educational research, and using data to inform instructional decisions.

The goals of WERA are to:

• Promote academic discourse at conferences, seminars, and through publications.
• Share a variety of perspectives and voices on current issues in education.
• Increase the dissemination of research, which may influence educational policy regarding instruction, assessment, evaluation, and future research.

Congratulations, Dr. Sprigg!

Water Cooler Questions & Answers

Q: I am wondering when you will have the 2009-2010 calendar available. I am trying to figure out if the kids will go back to school in September since it usually starts the Wednesday after the Labor Day holiday. Since it is so late this year I am wondering if they will go back the week prior for a few days. I am planning a vacation around that holiday and need to know the school schedule.

A: The school calendar is negotiated between the district and the teacher’s union. It has not been finalized yet although there has been some discussion about starting prior to Labor Day because of how the calendar falls this year. Generally, the calendar is "tentatively agreed upon" by late May. I’m sorry we don’t have a definite answer for you, but we won’t know until the two groups finalized their negotiations on this subject.


Q: Over the past several years I have witnessed schools in better shape than HHS getting remodeled or completely re built. Are there any plans to renovate HHS or at least get rid of the mildew filled ceiling tiles in the cafeteria? The bathrooms are completely disgusting and I am ashamed of the district for ignoring minor repairs.

A: Thank you for asking about Highline High School and the capital building plan.

Prior to the 2002 bond measure, a task force made up of community members, parents, staff, and city and local leaders reviewed the Study and Survey required by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Study and Survey details the physical condition of each school building owned by the district. The task force then prioritized the projects and selected which projects would be put before the voters for consideration in the 2002 and 2006 bonds. The order of school replacements was determined solely through this public process.

We are beginning a similar process to address the next phase of construction needs. A citizen’s committee has been formed and held their first meeting on March 3, 2009. The committee is again made up of community members, parents, staff, PTSA and Highline Citizens for Schools representatives, and five expert members with experience in construction and city management. They will be holding a series of meetings over the next few months to conduct critical analysis of the needs and prepare a long-range plan for capital construction for Highline Public Schools. The committee will present their recommendations to the Superintendent in late May or early June. Because of its age and condition, Highline High School could likely to be part of phase I or II of this plan.

As for the second part of your question, any time you see a cleaning or safety/maintenance issue, it should be brought to the attention of the school office so a work order can be initiated or the custodian notified to address the issue.

Highline Student Qualifies for State Geography Bee

Congratulations to Benjamin Salman. Benjamin has qualified to represent the Highline Homeschool Center at the state level competition in Tacoma on April 3. Benjamin scored in the top 100 in the state on a written exam, which qualified him to participate in the state competition.

One winner from each state and territory will advance to the national competitions, which will be held May 19 and 20 at the National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The final round of the 2009 Bee, featuring Alex Trebek, will air on the National Geographic Channel on May 20.

March is Women’s History Month

The month of March is National Women’s History Month. Here is an abbreviated catalog of milestones of women’s history in the U.S.

Women held their first women rights convention in 1878.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was signed into law, granting women the right to vote.

The first Commission on the Status of Women was established by President John F. Kennedy and the equal pay act was passed in 1963.

In 1987, the National Hispana Leadership Institute was founded to address the underrepresentation of Latinas in the non-profit, political, and corporate arenas.

In 2009, President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which broadens a woman’s right to file a complaint against her employer for pay discrimination.