Community Input Sought on Transformation of Highline High Schools

SEATTLE -- The Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence today announced a grant of $300,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to involve the Highline community in efforts to transform its high schools into academically rigorous learning communities that better serve all students. The program aims to encourage community participation in the creation of high schools that prepare all students for the demands of today’s economy.  

The project will include several methods of community engagement—town hall meetings, forums, and small group sessions—to generate support for strong high schools that equip all students with the high-level skills they need to be successful. The district will use the feedback to refine its high school redesign plans and communicate them to the public.
 
“We want to engage parents, teachers, students, administrators, and the larger community,” said Kathy McCabe, executive director of the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence. “All of us will benefit from high-quality high schools that prepare our students for success in the 21st century economy.”

Statewide, only 53 percent of Hispanics and 59 percent of African American students make it to graduation day, according to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

“We need to make changes so that our high schools serve all students,” said Dr. Joe McGeehan, superintendent of Highline Public Schools.

Increasing the district’s graduation rate beyond the current 64 percent is a top priority for Deputy Superintendent John Welch. Welch will take over as superintendent when Dr. McGeehan retires at the end of June.

"Research shows that students learn best when they are known well by their teachers and peers,” said Welch. “These strong, small schools will help us reach our goal of having 9 out of 10 students graduate ready for college, careers, and citizenship."

In 2003, Highline Public Schools committed to increasing its graduation rate by transforming all of its large high schools into dynamic smaller schools. The redesigned high schools in Highline will incorporate the new 3Rs: rigorous instruction that challenges all students with high expectations, relevant curriculum that helps students connect their studies to the real world, and meaningful relationships that ensure students are connected with the adults in the school. In 2003, the National Research Council recommended that schools “integrate rigor and relevance into the core curriculum” as well as “foster personalized and continuous relationships between teachers and students.”

“This is hard work,” said Tom Vander Ark, executive director of education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Thoughtful collaboration with the community and other stakeholders will help Highline create high-quality high schools that prepare all of its young people for a successful future.”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its partners are focused on increasing graduation rates by supporting the creation of new high-quality high schools and the transformation of existing low-performing high schools into more focused and effective schools. To date, the foundation has invested $1 billion to improve high schools, including supporting the creation of more than 1,500 high-quality high schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia. The foundation has invested more than $150 million in Washington schools and districts.   

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The Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence (www.fund4excellence.org) develops community resources to help students succeed in all Highline Public Schools. The Foundation supports academic achievement, classroom enrichment, and college and career readiness.  Established in 2001, Highline Schools Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees.