A month ago I wrote about the horticulture program getting a timely axe with Black River High School. I want to juxtapose that story with a new one I wrote about an exciting new environmental science class at Hazen High School. (Though the horticulture program wasn’t at Hazen, it has several Hazen students.)

One program is closing, while another one is opening. It’s all under the same vision, increasing rigor. When you read them together, it shows more clearly what the district is changing in the science program.

An unanswered question I had after the horticulture program closed is what the district plans to replace it with. By several standards it was a successful class.

Teresa Coda, the Hazen science chair, mentioned that teachers looked at several courses including astronomy. (Hazen chose environmental science because the new solar panels fit well into the class.) The class, which both sparks the interest of students and maybe even federal grants, is a probably good picture of what’s going to be coming.

RCW 28A.335.020
School closures — Policy of citizen involvement required — Summary of effects — Hearings — Notice.

Before any school closure, a school district board of directors shall adopt a policy regarding school closures which provides for citizen involvement before the school district board of directors considers the closure of any school for instructional purposes. The policy adopted shall include provisions for the development of a written summary containing an analysis as to the effects of the proposed school closure. The policy shall also include a requirement that during the ninety days before a school district’s final decision upon any school closure, the school board of directors shall conduct hearings to receive testimony from the public on any issues related to the closure of any school for instructional purposes. The policy shall require separate hearings for each school which is proposed to be closed.
The policy adopted shall provide for reasonable notice to the residents affected by the proposed school closure. At a minimum, the notice of any hearing pertaining to a proposed school closure shall contain the date, time, place, and purpose of the hearing. Notice of each hearing shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the school, subject to closure, is located. The last notice of hearing shall be published not later than seven days immediately before the final hearing.

Legislators finally agreed on a budget for next year, handing final numbers to school districts about a month late.

Up until now the district has been preparing for the worst, the governor’s initial budget which would have meant a $4.3 million.

To make time to review the better-than-expected numbers, the district is pushing back its three public budget meetings from next week to mid-May.

This will mean the district will have a clearer idea of what they plan to cut at the meetings. But parents will then have less time to respond, before the board approves the budget in August.

The cuts include the loss of all remaining I-728 funds with $1.3 million, and loss of about $940,000 for the K-4 student ratio money, meaning about 7 teacher positions.

The district will also lose money for a teacher training day, but it won’t have to increase contributions to state-mandated retirement funds, about $500,000 in savings.

The final budget gap is still unknown, as the district hasn’t made a complete decision on Honeydew Elementary School yet.

The meetings have been moved from April 20-22 to 7 p.m. May 10 at Lindbergh High School, May 13 at Hazen and May 17 at Renton.

The press release has more details about the cuts. Watch for my story on RentonReporter.com. I should have some comments from school administrators.

Press Release 2010 2011 Budget Communication 4-14-2010

Black River is an alternative public school that hosts students who struggle in normal classroom settings.

Mother Wendy Bluhm reported that extra security, including the King County Sheriff’s Office, were called to the school, while teachers broke the news.

However, Renton School District spokesperson Randy Matheson later stated in an e-mail that extra security was not used.

“The students were really upset. They don’t know what to do,” she said. “I’m sure dropping out is going through their minds.”

The district has plans to tear down the Black River facility and to build a new Secondary Learning Center in its place, according to a press release.

A new alternative program will be designed during the facility’s construction. It’s scheduled to open in the 2012-2013 school year.

The decision to close the school came with little discussion, said Bluhm. Teachers didn’t hear about it until an early April staff meeting.

“This didn’t occur until the last minute,” Bluhm said. “It was never in the budget.”
Parents are planning to attend Wednesday’s board meeting at the Kohlwes Education Center, 7 p.m., April 14.

Below is a press release.
Dist to Build New BR Site-3!30!10 (2)

About 300 science students filled the auditorium to hear about the new project. Many will have the opportunity to start analyzing the panel’s data in the coming school year.

Generating enough energy to power the school’s outdoor LED lighting, the panels are meant for education, not actual energy production.

The Hazen project is the district’s second, which is unusual. A similar project at Dimmitt Middle School was installed in the Fall from a Seattle City Light grant. That project hasn’t been finished, because of discussion over how the panels should be grounded.

The $25,000 in grant money was given to the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, which organized the whole project, from installation to training educators.

She’s expected to receive a bonus to match the high rating at the end of the school year. I’ve put in a request to find out how much.

In a letter read by board president Lynn Desmarais, the board outlined several reasons for the high rating.

Among the praises is the work that came out of the Summit Initiative. Heuschel has a strong focus on gathering better information to help teachers improve their instruction time.

She’s given praise for connecting with other government and private organizations, which have lead to helping teachers get further certification and training.

The board then lists various praises for her communication skills, leadership and overall intelligence. I posted the letter in a Scribd tool below.

I’d like to get input on what readers think about this relatively new superintendent.

If you don’t want to sign up to comment (a painless process) shoot me an e-mail at cgracey@rentonreporter.com.

2010 Board Superintendent Eval Summary Ltr 2009-10

In a budget meeting last month, about a hundred community and school members asked administrators to spare the pool from being cut. Administrators are hoping tonight that there will be concrete solutions.

“This is a working meeting to have the community tell us what it is they’d do to find funding to place the pool in our budget for the coming year,” said spokesperson Randy Matheson. “The thing we need to be clear about is that we’re not coming with solutions.”

One idea from the district was to privatize the pool. A request for offers stands until March 31. The district has received a few, but hasn’t examined them to see if they are legitimate, Matheson said.

Another idea was to raise pool fees, which pay for about $300,000 of the pool’s about $476,000 budget.

The pool, built on school district property by King County, was released to the district after the area annexed to the City of Renton. Money from the county has kept the pool open for the past two years, but it’s since run dry.

Facing a multi-million-dollar budget cut, which could mean up to 35 teacher layoffs, the district doesn’t plan to take the money from its budget.

Lindbergh and Kentridge high school swimmers would be affected by the closure, but even more so community members care about swim lessons and exercise time, which fills he pool’s schedule 6 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at Lindbergh High School.

Two Lakeridge Elementary School students won first place in the annual  Skyway Veterans of Foreign Wars essay contest.

Fourth-grader Emmanuel Hebron, left, and fifth-grader Zeinab Ali won VFW medal, $50 and were honored at a VFW dinner for their essays on “What Makes our Country Great.”

Left: seventh-grader David Grieve. Right: Wife Shami and David Grieve now live in Marion Indiana.

A Midwest pastor sent the Renton School District a letter of confession and a $100 check of contrition for stealing food from a student store when he was a seventh-grader at Nelsen Middle School.

In 1988, David Grieve was navigating life as a bespectacled preteen and trying to fit in with the cool kids.
That year Grieve got his big chance: he was assigned to the student store, selling food and school supplies to students during the school day.
The big-selling items at the store were beef jerky and pepperoni sticks. His adviser instructed him and others that if any food items fell on the floor, they were to be tossed out.
The boys soon began to crave the pepperoni sticks and eventually succumbed to the allure of meaty goods. They began eating the food, claiming that the jerky and pepperoni would mysteriously and without help unwrap and fall to the ground. The boys also started to pocket some of the money from sales.
Now, fast-forward more than 20 years. Grieve has moved to the Midwest and become a pastor at New Life
Community Church in Marion, Indiana.
Recently, while talking to fellow church members about having a clear conscience with God, Grieve remembered his time in the student store at Nelsen Middle School and all of the food he and the cool kids consumed, along with the change they pocketed.
Guided by faith, he wrote a letter of contrition to the staff at Nelsen, confessing his transgressions. To make amends, he also included a check for $100 to replace the lost income.
Grieve told the district he now feels better after confessing his antics. Even more though, he says, it was the right thing to do. He learned to practice what he preaches.

Below is a district press release.

Second LHS Pool Meeting Planed-3!4!2010

About 35 Renton teachers could lose their jobs next year, about 2-3 from each elementary school.

Although children may be able to fill another elementary school, staff cannot, said spokesperson Randy Matheson.

It could mean the $1 million the district is expected to pay to reopen the school may be saved to keep more teachers on staff.

Last year the district looked at opening the elementary school, but held off to spare further budget cuts.

In February the Enrollment Review Committee recommended that the school district open Honeydew, but the final decision is up to the Board of Directors.

Below is the power point. The boundary review committee would decide the final lines on how the neighborhoods would be divided.

However, take a look out how each school is over capacity on page 11. On paper it looks pretty tight.

PP ERC 2-10-10 R

Lindbergh junior Anna Tatelman was chosen to participate in a Stanford University scholars program in the intensive study of Japan,

She’ll spend five months learning Japanese history, literature, religion from ambassadors and experts throughout the United States.

The Reischauer Scholars Program only selects about 25 students nationwide, and offers participants five credits.

Five district high school juniors have been accepted to participate in this year’s Washington Aerospace Scholars program.

Hazen students Dat Nguyen and Seann Smallwood and Lindbergh students Patricia Garcia, Christian Phillips and Stephanie Wagner will join the program, which uses a NASA-designed curriculum.

Students will complete ten lessons, submitting quizzes, math solutions, essays and graphics each week. Scholars will also independently select a topic of interest for a final project.

The meeting schedule:
7 p.m., Feb. 23, Hazen High School, 1101 Hoquiam Ave. N.E., Renton
7 p.m., Feb. 25, Lindbergh High School, 16426 128th Ave. S.E., Renton
7 p.m., March 1, Renton High School Commons, 400 S. 2nd St., Renton

Below is the budget cut presentation Moore offered about a month ago. My story on the budget cuts is also good background.

10-11 budget development 1-11-2010 (2)

I had the opportunity to visit and watch the play, and there is a full story in the Lifestyles section.

The troupe kept on message about how to handle being bullied and how not to lash back. As it turns out, it was a small part of the many things they do to prevent bullying at St. Anthony’s.

I was also impressed by how well the actors did. They’re all pretty young and work exclusively in the traveling group.

I asked them if they had been bullied as kids, and they all said they were either bullied or the object of a terrible gossip scene.

Here are some pictures that didn’t make the Web site, but I think are worth sharing.

Kiana Manzano, age 6, watches the play Super School by the Taproot Theatre Roady Company at St. Anthony's School. The actors taught students about bullying and how to prevent it.

Kennydale Elementary School

I blogged about Kennydale Elementary’s Martin Luther King Jr. mural the other day, and went to go see it last night.

I must say, I’m really impressed with what these elementary kids did.

This mural is made of several small pieces of paper carefully cut out and glued. I’m going to talk to the art docent who helped Ms. Luder’s kids put it together for a short story in the paper.

Around the mural are short “I have a dream” speaches by the kids. A few talked about not smoking cigarrettes, polution and illness.

It’s unusual for both school districts to catch students selling pot on campus.

Putting together the Renton police blotter each week, I can say youth committing serious crime in Renton is far from unusual. However, crime isn’t often this heavily connected with the teens’ schools.

In both cases, law enforcement commended the school administrators for their investigations.

Still, it’s been a bad couple of weeks for Renton area youth.

Edwin Heredia-Barrios academic achievements have earned him a place on the president’s honor roll. He first studied computer science in Peru, his native country.

Heredia-Barrios believes in giving back to the community. He volunteers with other Hispanic students and uses his computer and bilingual skills to effectively teach the computer skills these students need. He hopes to earn a bachelor’s in computer science.

Shaylayne Kemp serves on the college tenure committee and is eager to expand her horizon by trying new things and helping others.

A published author, she writes poetry and published a series of books about a fictional high school. She promoted her books through a Web site she developed using her skills learned at RTC. Kemp plans to earn her Bachelors degree and become a Web programmer and developer.

The All-Washington Academic Scholarship Program is sponsored by Key Bank and Northwest Education Loan Association. It’s supported by the Washington Association of Community and Technical Colleges, Trustees Association of Community and Technical Colleges, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society of the Two-Year College.

During the forums held for president Steve Hanson’s interview process, a few consistent ideas rose to the surface. I spoke with him this morning after he was voted as the permanent president Tuesday to ask about a few of them.

For the next few months he’ll be focusing heavily on developing next year’s budget, but here are a few other ideas for improvement on his list.

Student government

“When you go through a process like this, there are lots of good ideas. I just happen to agree student government is one of them,” he said.

Hanson was impressed by how many students showed up to the forum.

He plans to ask Lake Washington Technical College for advice from how they implemented a program.

“It’s a little different when you implement it at a technical college than at a community college,” he said.

Increasing grant applications

The school has been applying for grants, but there is only so much a college can do without a grant writer.

“To be competitive you really have to have somebody who is part time or full time,” he said, adding, “There is a certain kind of expertise in developing grants.”

Depending on the budget, he said he plans to look into hiring someone part time. However, he first plans to start seeking consultants.

“There is a lot of interest in developing that position and going after some of the bigger grants,” he said. “The board had a lot of interest in grant opportunities and that is something we’re looking at.”

Reaching out to the Renton community

“I think the partnerships in the community are strong. There is no question about that. What the challenge is going to be is looking for partnerships where we can share resources,” he said. “Those are the kind of partnerships that can help you provide programs for training.”

Reaching out to other communities

He plans to reach out more to local cities such as Kent and South Seattle, he said, adding that the college’s service district is pretty large.

“We’ve already been approached by Covington,” he said. “Those are the kinds of opportunities we need to pursue. I think the college has a good history of doing that.”

International students

Renton has some international students, but the board is interested in growing those numbers.

Some special funding can come with have more international students, Hanson said.

“There are advantages to working with international students,” he said. “That’s an area I have quite of bit experience with.”

Where: Lindbergh High School, 16426 128th Ave. S.E., Renton
When: 6-8 p.m., Dec. 17
Cost: $5, $7 for VIP seating

Below is Pham’s press release.

Press Release

Anderson, a senior, was also selected as first team by the Seattle Times, will learn if he’s the winner of the award on Dec. 13. The award includes a $2,000 scholarship.

Lindbergh head football coach Pat O’Grady nominated Anderson for the award based on his stellar athletic ability and
leadership.

Gene Kolczynski’s business education class at Lindbergh High School was busy wrapping the about 100 gifts they collected for a second annual toy drive Dec. 10.
The DECA club took an afternoon to wrap the presents, which will soon be distributed to 25 elementary kids at four schools.
I’ll have the full story on RentonReporter.com in the next few days.

Under the guidance of Renton High business education teacher Eric Hougan, the students visited Seattle University, University of Washington, and Washington Superior Court. During this time they met a diverse panel of legal professionals and judges, attended workshops and conducted a mock trial.

Each student will receive a $500 scholarship through the year-long program, called Future of the Law Institute.

Here’s the press release:

Artwork by Black River High School students in Karen Fuller’s class is being displayed at several storefront windows in downtown Renton. The city’s Allied Arts Commission is collecting artwork from schools to create rotating art displays in windows at vacant stores to beautify downtown businesses.

It’s the second year the Distributive Education Club of America (DECA) students have done the annual Giving Tree program.

DECA student Adrian Villanueva  is working with elementary principals and counselors at four schools to solicit names of 25 students from each school for the gift-giving program.

The fair gives Renton School District students ideas for job training and apprenticeships. Several of the fair participants will have hands-on activities for students.

“They are our future workforce, and providing information to help them prepare and train them in this very competitive job market is key,” according to a press release.

The fair is open to all high school students and buses will be transporting students from different schools.

The fair is from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with a complimentary lunch from the Lindbergh culinary arts students.

The holiday falls on Nov. 26 this year, Thursday, and students traditionally get the Friday following off, Nov. 27.

The Renton School District’s holiday break starts December 21. It’s a clean two weeks, meaning students’ last class before break is a Friday and their first class returning is a Monday, Jan. 4.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

(Also, a random note to those who don’t know, Black Friday is named for the Friday shopping tradition after Thanksgiving. Businesses “get in the black,” which is an accounting phrase meaning they started making money after being behind or “in the red.”)

The visit was a few minutes behind schedule. After a classroom visit, we left the classroom to be surprised by a bell that flooded the hallway with students, all eager to shake her hand.

Below are a few images I got from the event. I set me ISO at 800 to accommodate low lights and a lens with a 4.0 aperture, which is why the photos are so grainy.

Governor Christine Gregoire at Dimmitt Middle School

Governor Christine Gregoire at Dimmitt Middle School

Auditions are planned for Monday, Nov. 30. Students then rehearse during the week, and Friday, Dev. 4, they put on a performance for the school and parents.

The plays are updated versions of fairy tales. This year they’re planning on “Pinocchio.”

The second one comes straight from spokesperson Randy Matheson:

Kennydale Elementary School students in Norm Brecke’s Story Club will bring literature to life in two upcoming performances. Nearly 25 students in third- through fifth-grades read folktales, and then are trained in various memorization skills and dramatic movement techniques to perform the stories for audiences. This is the second year for the dramatic performances, which will be offered first to students and again for families on Dec. 10 in the school’s commons.

Only about 40.4 percent of 10-grade students in the Renton School District passed the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) last year, sending the district scrambling to improve math performance. Whereas 45.5 percent of Washington state students passed the math portion.

Right now students who fail the standardized test in 10th grade can retake the exam or take an additional two years of math. This option will no longer be available for the class of 2013.

The graduating class of 2010 is only required to take 2.0 credits of math. As I reported last week, starting with the class of 2013, students are required to take an additional credit, totaling 3.0 credits. The district doesn’t know how many more math teachers it will need to hire to provide enough courses for students.

There is a chance this could impact elective courses, but I’ve heard conflicting opinions from district administrators.

Right now it appears that the state legislature is phasing in higher standards. First for reading and writing, where the district performs well, and now with math scores. Currently, all students must pass the reading and writing portion of the HSPE or WASL to graduate.

I’m working on an in-depth story looking at the impact of these higher standards on the school district and the students. Feel free to give your input, I’d like to know parent and teacher concerns.

Freshmen this year will need to earn 3.0 credits of math instead of 2.0 credits.

One credit is equivalent to taking one math class for an entire year, or 0.5 credits for one semester. Students will be required to take three years of math instead of two.

To balance the new standard, the district reduced its elective requirements from 7.0 to 6.0 credits.

This change will not impact current sophomores, juniors or seniors. The district still requires 22 credits to graduate, although students typically complete 24 credits.

Administration isn’t expecting this to improve WASL scores by much, as students are tested in the 10th grade. The changes will likely effect students their junior and senior years.

I spoke with Kathleen Bailey on the subject for a formal story. I hope to write it for RentonReporter.com Monday.

‘The committee that will examine school boundaries and the potential opening of Honeydew Elementary School was approved at Wednesday’s Renton School District board meeting.

At the meeting it was suggested that this would include boundaries between McKnight and Dimmitt middle schools, though it wasn’t included in the report.

The advisory committee also hopes to finalize Renton High School service areas and boundaries for Bryn Mawr, Lakeridge and Campbell Hill elementary schools.

Alongside considering the opening of Honeydew next year, the board will discuss if portable classrooms are needed for 2010-2011.

The 2009 Enrollment Review Committee will be lead by Lou Pappas, who has worked with the district on this issue before.

The committee will be made of 30 parent representatives from the district alongside two elementary principals, a middle school principal and principal Damien Pattenaude of Renton High.

Director David Merrill requested that Pappas also find a representative in the Honeydew area, though Honeydew doesn’t have a boundary, as it isn’t open.

Pappas agreed to have someone living nearby the school on the committee, and suggested that someone already likely was.

The meetings, which start Nov. 17, will be open to the public. The public can comment, but only during a specific time in the meeting.

They’re to be held in the facilities conference room, below is the schedule.

Nov. 17 – introduction, scope of work, background, information, enrollment projections
Dec. 8 – individual building use reports, elementary and secondary
Jan. 12 – begin deliberations and develop preliminary observations and recommendations
Feb. 9 – finalize observations and recommendations
Feb. 23 – finalize recommendations
Feb. 24 or March 10 – presentation to the Board of Directions

Enrollment Review Committee Board Presentation

Below is a document given formally at the Oct. 14 school board meeting.

Flood Planning

Father Gary Zender of the St. Anthony Parish holds a radish from the school's new garden and greenhouse.

I went to the blessing ceremony for St. Anthony School’s new greenhouse.

This photo I took I found particularly beautiful, and I thought I’d give a little preview before I write up the story for tomorrow.

The project was completed much to the hard work of first-grade teacher Jan Seely, who plucked the radish from a garden bed before the ceremony started.

The school will use the garden to teach children about growing vegetables and keeping a garden. The vegetables themselves will be distributed through the school’s food bank.

The event is one of four this fall, and runs from 7-10 p.m.

There will be snacks, a three-on-three basketball tournament, a movie, Rock Band, Guitar Hero and prizes.

The cost is free, but students should bring an ID. The program is organized by the City of Renton Parks Department for teens to have fun and get some exercise.

For more information visit the city ‘Teen Scene’ Web page by clicking here.

Highlands Neighborhood Center, 800 Edmonds Ave. N.E., Renton.

View Larger Map

The board approved the plans without objection Oct. 14. So far the project is on time and budget.

Contractors are hoping to complete the project between September and December of 2011. I’ll write more on it when I have time.

Hazen Board Presentation

The Dimmit Middle School students participated in science research with Salish Sea Expeditions.

The project gave students a chance to experience science firsthand, by studying the effects of light and depth on plankton populations in Puget Sound.

The students slept, cooked and learn to sail while on the boat, while families and friends were able to track the students’ adventure online.

I was hoping to take pictures of them getting on the boat, but I didn’t hear about it until it happened. I’m going to try and get something in next week’s paper.

Under the guidance of Renton High teacher Eric Hougan, the students maintain a rigorous high school course load, while also taking classes in child development, teaching as a career, and classroom management.

The students also spend time in an elementary school, tutoring, observing, and gaining knowledge from professional teaching staff.

The program is a collaboration between the school district and Central Washington University and is paid for by a Recruiting Washington Teachers grant, a state-funded program, administered by the state’s Professional Educator Standards Board.

U.S. Department General Counsel Charlie Rose, right, converses with teachers at Renton High School about No Child Left Behind. Principal Damien Pattenaude, left.

When I first read the name Charlie Rose, I thought the big broadcaster that found fame through his work with Bill Moyers was about to bless Renton High School with a visit Wednesday.

After the U.S. Department of Education’s General Counsel Charlie Rose, not the big broadcaster, shook my hand, I realized I was still about to hear something cool, but from the faculty he conversed with.

He’s been traveling around America conducting “Listening and Learning” sessions with faculty and parents about No Child Left Behind.

Principal Damien Pattenaude offered a presentation on how the faculty and he have changed the school in the past few years.

In the past year, fights are down by half, and tardy students by 14 percent, he said.

However, nothing stuck more than the two sticky notes math teacher Stacey Snyder placed under the projector.

They were pie charts that demonstrated how the once typically white and Asian dominated higher math classes now reflect the school’s actual demographic with blacks and Hispanics.

“What I’m struck by here is the fact that it seems that the teachers and the principal reached a catalyst,” Rose said to the teachers, who talked heavily about self-reflection.

After several years of heavy faculty and administration turnover, the teachers decided to start changing school’s culture, and now it’s now starting to change student performance.

“That is the high quality approach… that we need to encourage,” Rose said.

Look for more in next week’s paper.

View Larger Map

RTC interim president Steve Hanson

The Renton Technical College Board of Trustees are planning on having their monthly meeting tomorrow, Oct. 13 at 4 p.m.

It’s the first meeting the trustees will have with the new interim president, Steve Hanson.

The board and Hanson will discuss goals and expectations for the year, Hanson said.

The meeting is among the first of expected discussions about the future of the school, after the firing of former president Don Bressler this summer.

Check out the trustee’s page for more information. Though they haven’t posted an agenda. The meeting is open to the public, as long as the trustees don’t go into executive session.

Also, check out my profile story on Hanson.

You can also tweet me @celestegracey.

Grossnickle and incumbent Teal are both running for the Renton School District board.

Renton jumped from a 60 percent graduation rate to an 81 percent graduation rate, while Lindbergh High School jumped from 85 percent to 93.7 percent and Hazen High School from 96 percent to 97 percent.

These numbers track how many freshmen graduate as seniors.

Parents are encouraged to take these statistics with a grain of salt, as the dropout rate doesn’t necessarily reflect quality of education or even completion of education.

A variety of scenarios play into the rates, including immigrants who move and never graduate from the district.

From 2004-2009 Renton’s rates float around the 70s and some 80s while Hazen and Lindbergh’s rates float around the 80s and 90s.

I’m hoping to develop this into a full story, inquiring why Renton’s numbers fluctuated so heavily these past few years and about what factors really drive the numbers.

I’m still waiting on the WASL scores from the district. We’ll run them as soon as we get them.

Graduation Rate Statistics 2004-2009

All staff will be conducting various trainings. There will also be a teacher training day November 6.

Classes were not canceled, just never scheduled for this day. I apologize for any confusion.

Hazen High School’s Divina Voce Women’s Ensemble has been invited to perform at Western
Washington University’s Invitational Choral Festival.

The Hazen group is one of only eight Washington high school choirs considered among the best to perform for world renowned clinicians and exchange with WWU’s Concert Choir.

The event takes place in mid-November.  This is Hazen’s second appearance at the event: the Concert Choir was invited in 2007.  Divina Voce will also perform at the Renton Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Landing on November 21.

Renton Rotary president Dan Kellogg helps Cascade Elementary School third-grader David Galaviz look up a word in his new dictionary.

About 1,200 third graders in the Renton School District received free dictionaries from the Rotary Club of Renton, Sept. 29.
The new books, written for children, are a part of the rotary’s annual tradition to ensure all students have dictionaries available at home.
The goal of the more than $10,000 project is to further support of early childhood education.
Though dictionaries are available in the classroom, school libraries and online, the books are a personal gift that kids can use with family members.
Some third-graders who received the dictionaries in the past reported using the books with their siblings and, in a few cases, to help teach English to family members.
Rotary members have taken a few weeks to distribute the books personally and help children write their names in them using special stickers.

Brian Goddard, Colin Jones and Jack Li, all seniors, won awards for exceptional scores on their AP exams.

Twenty-one Hazen High School students earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on their advanced placement exams. Three of the students, Brian Goddard, Colin Jones and Jack Li, are seniors this year.

The other students graduated last year. The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program provides motivated and academically prepared students an opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP exams.