Highline Public Schools

Check out Interim Superintendent Spicciati's Foto February!  ​

Throughout the month of February, Interim Superintendent Spicciati will be sharing photos from around the district in his blog.  Check it out!​

Three finalists for the Highline superintendent position will visit the district on February 22, 23, and 24. The community will have an opportunity to meet each candidate and provide feedback to the school board.

In its search for Highline's next superintendent, the school board has selected three finalists. Each finalist will spend a day touring Highline and meeting staff, parents, students, and community members.

The district will host each finalist on a separate day, February 22, 23, and 24. ​

Each candidate will have a marathon day, starting with a breakfast with community leaders and ending with a public forum.

All community members and staff are invited to attend the forums, held February 22, 23, and 24, 6:00-7:15 p.m. in the Burien City Council Chambers (located at the Burien Public Library). The forums will also be streamed live on the internet, and viewers will be able to send in questions to the candidate via email or Twitter. Participants will have an opportunity to share their feedback via an online survey after the forums.

During the course of the visit day, the candidate will meet with principals, have lunch with senior staff, and tour a school. He or she will also meet with the advisory committee appointed by the school board to give feedback on the finalists. The advisory committee includes parents, principals, union representatives, and leaders of community organizations.

The school board hopes to announce the new superintendent by March 1.

​Jenny Gao is among 104 of the nation's most outstanding students selected as delegates to the US Senate Youth Program. She will meet President Obama and other national leaders in Washington, D.C., next month.

Aviation High School senior Jenny Gao is one of two Washington students selected this year for the United States Senate Youth program. Each year this extremely competitive, merit-based program selects 104 of the most outstanding high school students from across the country.

Aviation High's Jenny Gao

Jenny will travel to the nation’s capital in March for an intensive, week-long study of the federal government and the people who lead it. Student delegates will attend meetings and briefings with President Obama, senators and congressional staff, a justice of the Supreme Court, leaders of cabinet agencies, an ambassador to the United States, and top members of the national media. The students will also tour many of the national monuments and several museums.

The U.S. Senate Youth Program aims to inspire outstanding young people to make a lifelong commitment to public service. Each of the student delegates will receive a $5,000 college scholarship from The Hearst Foundations and will be encouraged to pursue studies in government, history, and public affairs.

Jenny is a 4.0 student and National Merit semi-finalist who is enrolled in an AP-rich class schedule. She serves as student body president, participates in the Science Olympiad, speech, and debate, and is the mathematician for her team designing an airplane in the Real World Design Challenge. She also tutors younger students and plays the violin in the Renton Youth Symphony Orchestra. She was one of 40 young women nationally to participate in summer residency at the Johnson Space Center.

"Jenny is the first Aviation High School student to be selected for the US Senate Youth Program. We are immensely proud of her,” says Aviation High School Principal Reba Gilman. “Everyone in our school community applauds her commitment to excellence in all her endeavors. She will be an outstanding contributor as a delegate to this prestigious program.”

Beverly Mowrer received the highest honor in the 2012 Golden Apple Awards sponsored by KCTS 9. The award recognizes one educator or program in Washington state whose commitment inspires academic or vocational success.​

Beverly Mowrer received the highest honor in the 2012 Golden Apple Awards sponsored by KCTS 9. Mowrer was awarded the Stanley O. McNaughton Award, which recognizes one educator or program in Washington State whose commitment inspires academic or vocational success.

Bev Mowrer with PEMCO CEO Stan McNaughton.

Mowrer was selected from among nearly 200 individuals and programs nominated from public and private schools across the state. The panel of Golden Apple judges included representatives from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Washington Education Association, Washington State Parent Teacher Association, Association of Washington School Principals, and past Golden Apple Award honorees.

Mowrer teaches at New Start, an alternative high school that serves students in a creative and flexible learning environment. She is known for her innovative approach to teaching and her ability to rally the community around her students.

From the Golden Apple web page:
Beverly Mowrer's students were once on the verge of dropping out. Some have been homeless or tangled in the legal system, many are financially stressed. For these young adults, finishing school can be the last thing on their mind. And yet, with the attitude that "teaching is not my job... it's my calling," she helps her students want to learn for themselves and earn a high-school diploma.

She works tirelessly to involve the community in her mission, once organizing a trip aboard a 1917 wooden tall ship after which the crew was so impressed with the motivation and commitment of her students, they pulled together a three-day excursion.

Last year, her students won a King County Earth Hero Award for their work to remove invasive species and restore native plants to Salmon Creek Ravine near their school. "She goes above and beyond to motivate learners who otherwise have no place to go," says one colleague. "She cares for her students as though they are her family."
 
Mowrer and other Golden Apple honorees will be featured in primetime broadcast on KCTS 9 on March 1 at 8:00 p.m. The program will be re-broadcast on April 8 at 3:00 p.m. and April 16 at 12:00 p.m.

To learn more about the Golden Apple Awards, go to http://bit.ly/zWrcJ5​

USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon and Regional Administrator Allen Ng visited Madrona Elementary School today to recognize four Highline schools for being national leaders in efforts to promote good nutrition and active lifestyles.

USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon and Regional Administrator Allen Ng visited Madrona Elementary School today to recognize four Highline schools for being national leaders in promoting good nutrition and active lifestyles.

Under Secretary Concannon joins Madrona students and Interim Superintendent Alan Spicciati for a school lunch.

Madrona, Southern Heights, Beverly Park, and White Center Heights Elementary Schools achieved silver status in the HealthierUS School Challenge, championed by First Lady Michelle Obama.

The award puts them in the top one percent among schools across the nation, according to Under Secretary Concannon.

No other schools in Washington achieved the silver designation.

The four schools earned the award under the leadership of Highline’s Nutrition Services Director Chris Neal. To win the award, schools had to show that they provide healthier foods in their school meals; educate students about nutrition; ensure that students get at least 90 minutes of PE per week; and give students opportunities for physical activity.

Under Secretary Concannon (L) and Regional Administrator Allen Ng present a plaque to Nutrition Services Director Chris Neal.

Madrona, Southern Heights, White Center Heights, and Beverly Park are already using the new healthier school meal standards issued by the USDA last week.

“You are at the head of the pack for adopting the new standards,” said Concannon.  “We know that children learn better when they have a regular source of healthy meals. And as we look at some of the challenges facing our country with obesity and preventable illnesses, to the extent that we can instill, support, and reinforce healthier eating we will have healthier adults later in life.”

Winners of the Healthier US School Challenge were recognized at the February 8 School Board meeting.

For more information about the HealthierUS School Challenge, go to http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthierus/index.html