Welcome Dr. Enfield!

Dr. Enfield addresses reporters and staff

Let me be among the first to welcome Susan Enfield to Highline! (Pending final agreements between the board and Dr. Enfield.)

I have known Susan over the past year as we both transitioned into the interim superintendency. Superintendents work collaboratively across districts within the Puget Sound region and in statewide professional organizations, and we have had many opportunities to connect and discuss the work of education. I cannot begin to tell you how impressed I have been with Susan since the day we first met. Not only is she incredibly well qualified, but when you get to know her personally, rather than through the media, she's a real, engaging person.

You may not know that Highline has only had six permanent superintendents since the district was formed in 1941: L.D. Baker, Carl Jensen, Robert Sealey, Kent Matheson, Joe McGeehan, and John Welch. Susan joins a rich lineage of superintedents in Highline.

I believe Susan will do great things for Highline, and I am even more confident that Susan will come to appreciate our wonderful Highline district as I have. Let's welcome her to our community!

Highline/Sylvester Auction Supports Sports, Arts, and Technology

The Highline Jazz Band performs before the Highline/Sylvester Auction

Congratulations to Highline High School and Sylvester Middle School on a successful school auction this past Saturday night! The event began with a a performance by the excellent Highline Jazz Band as guests arrived and perused silent auction items. The main event was a live auction skillfully conducted by former Highline and Sylvester principal Tom Sawyer.

More than 200 alumni, community members, and staff attended, including Highline School Board VP and HHS alum Bernie Dorsey, Burien mayor Brian Bennett, Highline Executive Director of North End Schools John Boyd, Principals Damon Hunter of HHS and Vicki Fisher of Sylvester, and Assistant Principals Paul Harvey, Courtney Daikos, and Kyle Linman.

Special thanks to the parents of Highline and Sylvester who put in the legwork to make the event a smashing success!

Dual Language Video Now Available

Last month, I shared my visit to Delila Leber's dual language kindergarten program at Mount View. While there, I taped an interview with Ms. Leber for my monthly superintendent video message.

Video of the interview is now available. Check it out for a great overview of how we're approaching dual language instruction in Highline.

Foto February #10: Mount Rainier Girls Win District

Congratulations to the Mount Rainier High School girls's basketball team on their championship in the West Central/Southwest 4A tournament at the ShoWare Center! I got to take the game in with my two sons, principal Julie Hunter, and a lot of Mount Rainier staff last night. The girls play ferocious full-court defense and move the ball well on offense. The Rams defeated Federal Way High School 60-40. Check out the game story in the Seattle Times.

Our focus is on academics - college, career, and citizenship, actually - but there's a place for sports and other co-curricular activities, too. My hat's off to our coaches who are developing athletes third, students second, and outstanding young men and women first.

Foto February #9: Gregory Heights Library Dollar Book Sale



Parents, library staff, and the principal come together to support young readers at Gregory Heights


Today I visitied Gregory Heights Elementary for the Library Dollar Book Sale. Let me tell you, Gregory Heights has some dedicated parents to stand out in the cold for three hours as the classes passed through! This event, which is held about every six weeks at Gregory, began with a $500 grant from the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence. These days, parents and library staff keep it going through donations and trips to garage sales and thrift stores. But the books looked to be in fantastic condition and the kids were thrilled to be able to choose their own reads.

After visiting the book sale, principal Phil Robinson took me around to informally visit a few classrooms. Principal Robinson is extremely proud of his staff and I could see why as we popped our heads in several classes. We made a stop in the lunchroom, too, where I heard about how "recess before lunch" is helping students return to class more focused, and they eat better, too. Great job, Gregory Heights!

Foto February 8: Hope for Improved School Funding

I recently had the honor of representing Highline at a celebration of the historic Washington State Supreme Court decision to affirm the state's constitutional requirement to fully fund basic education. The McCleary Decision, as it is being known, cites the state constitution's clause that it is "the paramount duty" of the state to fund K-12 education. For several years now, Highline has been part of a coalition of more than 150 school districts supporting the fight for ample school district funding. The significance of the McCleary Decision is that the state's highest court defines ample as "more than just adequate" and that the court is maintaining jurisdiction over the legislature until they complete their planned funding increases through 2018.

This news is likely too late to save school district budgets in the short run, and more cuts are expected as we build next year's budget. But without a doubt, we are more likely to be well resourced in the coming years thanks to the court's affirmation of school funding.

With former board member Ben Kodama



The fight for ample school funding has gone on for a long time, and there are some real veterans of the effort. I ran into one at this meeting, former Highline School Board member Ben Kodama. Ben was on the board from 1990 to 1997 and was there both when I started teaching in Highline and in my early days as an administrator. Even though he's been out of active school district work for some time, he came to reap the rewards of many years of advocacy for children, and it was great to see him.

Foto February #7: Busy Weekend!

Congratulations to the finalists for Highline superintendent! It is a talented group. You can read more here.

Students compete in the middle school math contest at Mount Rainier on Saturday

I spent some time on Saturday at Mount Rainier High School. I was visiting the regional math contest for middle schools. Several of our Highline schools participate in math contests, and Pacific was making us proud on Saturday. While I was there, I also absorbed the energy of a huge regional gymnastics meet. Did you know Mount Rainier is the SPSL North champions in gymnastics, and Highline H.S. is co-champion of the Seamount League? Congratulations!

MRHS is one of the schools I visited this fall, but never got back around to blogging about. Principal Julie Hunter is doing great work there, and the particular day I visited I had the pleasure of watching the Language Arts department and the Career and Technical Ed. teachers conduct their Friday PCT staff development, as well as having lunch with a group of teachers who invited me to visit. Thanks for the hospitality!