Student Mock Election asks for future voters’ opinions
October 25, 2012
NEW — 9 a.m. Oct. 25, 2012
The minimum age to vote is 18, but the hurdle did not stop students throughout the Issaquah School District from casting ballots in the tight races for president and governor.
Educators on local campuses organized mock elections or joined the annual Student Mock Election overseen by the state elections office to educate students about the importance of participation in the political process.
Students at Issaquah and Tiger Mountain Community high schools, Issaquah Middle School, and Creekside, Endeavour and Sunny Hills elementary schools cast ballots in ersatz elections or plan to do so by the actual Election Day, Nov. 6.
Teachers involved in the mock elections said the exercise is about more than determining whether students support Jay Inslee or Rob McKenna for governor.
Seattle Seahawks honor Issaquah School District teachers
October 23, 2012
Lane Helgeson, Liz Villa and Kelly Kosier (from left), a Renton teacher, were honored as Heroes in the Classroom at the Oct. 14 game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Contributed
The Seattle Seahawks, in partnership with Symetra Financial Corp., honored Issaquah Middle School’s Liz Villa and Tiger Mountain Community High School’s Lane Helgeson as Heroes in the Classroom this month.
The duo is among 24 teachers across the Puget Sound area being honored for educational excellence during the 2012 NFL season.
Winners are recognized in front of their students at surprise in-school presentations and receive a $1,000 donation for classroom books and supplies.
In addition, Villa and Helgeson were recognized in an on-field presentation at the Oct. 14 game when the Seahawks beat the New England Patriots.
Liberty High School community speaks out against schedule change
October 16, 2012
It’s a little after 9 o’clock on a Thursday morning at Liberty High School and Marcus Milyko is working on his short video “Hidden Places,” which airs on the monthly broadcast show that is written, filmed and edited by the TV and Video Production class.
“I want to do video in my life,” he said. “I love all parts of it.”
But film wasn’t always Marcus’s passion. He hadn’t thought too much about it until Liberty’s film production course caught his eye last year when he was searching for a class. It’s this sort of chance to find a passion that Marcus, and many others in the Liberty community, are concerned will be lost if the district goes through with a proposal to change the high school’s schedule.
“Because of the eight-period schedule, I found this and without it I never would have,” Marcus said to members of the Issaquah School Board during its Oct. 10 meeting.
Skyline High School closes for day due to online shooting threat
September 25, 2012
King County Sheriff Steve Strachan speaks during a news conference Sept. 20 at Sammamish City Hall, across the street from the Skyline High School campus. By Greg Farrar
Skyline High School closed Sept. 20, after a still-unidentified online bulletin board user threatened to unleash a Columbine-style attack and shoot students on campus.
Investigation into Skyline threat continues as attendance drops elsewhere
September 20, 2012
UPDATED — 5 p.m. Sept. 20, 2012
Police continue to investigate a shooting threat against students at Skyline High School, as attendance at other Issaquah School District campuses — particularly Sammamish Plateau schools near Skyline — declined Thursday.
District administrators announced a decision late Wednesday to close Skyline after a threat made online targeted the school for a mass shooting. The district kept all other schools open.
Skyline also canceled all extracurricular activities and school athletics events scheduled for Thursday.
Sammamish Police Administrative Sgt. Jessica Sullivan said police continue to follow several leads on the identity of the user behind the threat posted Wednesday on the online bulletin board 4chan. Investigators have not yet been able to determine if the user is a Skyline student.
Students use video games to learn problem-solving skills
September 4, 2012
Video games at school sounds like the dream of many teenagers, but for many in the Issaquah School District designing and having them in the classroom became a reality last year.
Through a partnership between the district and Microsoft, students taking “Introduction to Computer Science” last spring at Skyline, Issaquah and Liberty high schools got to design, program and ultimately play video games, all in the name of learning. And starting this year, the course will also be offered at Tiger Mountain Community High School.
For Kevin Houghton, math and engineering teacher at Issaquah High, this was the first time video games made an appearance on his syllabi.
Issaquah police reactivate speed cameras near schools as students return
August 28, 2012
Issaquah police plan to reactivate speed-enforcement cameras near Issaquah High School and other campuses Sept. 4, as students return to schools along Second Avenue Southeast.
Issaquah School District back-to-school essentials
August 21, 2012
First day back
The first day of school is set for Sept. 4. For the bell times for your school, go to your school’s website or www.issaquah.wednet.edu/school/belltimes.aspx.
Basic stats
The Issaquah School District has more than 17,500 students and covers a 110-square mile area. The district includes 15 elementary schools, five middle schools and three comprehensive high schools. There is also the alternative Tiger Mountain Community High School and the Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie. The latter is part of the district but is Washington state’s juvenile detention facility.
District website
The main district web address is www.issaquah.wednet.edu. Look on the right side of the main page for links important for any given month. For example, “August Links” include “School bell times for 2012” and “Annual verification of elementary enrollment.” Look on the left side of the district’s Web page for links to coming events.
Issaquah School District schools welcome new principals
July 10, 2012
The Issaquah School District is welcoming several new faces this month.
Superintendent Steve Rasmussen recently announced the arrival of three new principals. Starting July 1, Michael Schiehser took over at Tiger Mountain Community High School, Tod Wood started at Clark Elementary School and Stacy Cho took the helm at Beaver Lake Middle School.
Schiehser began his career teaching high school science in Southern California and is a national board certified teacher. He joined the Mercer Island School District in 2005 as an associate principal at Mercer Island High School.
He has also served as the director of instruction and assessment and secondary learning support, before moving to his current position as director of teaching and learning, which includes the responsibility of serving as the primary instructional leader at Mercer Island High School.
Report: Little violence, drugs among Issaquah School District students
June 26, 2012
Issaquah’s students are pretty well-behaved, according to a report released this month by the school district.
The annual discipline report for the 2010-2011 school year was finished June 6 and presented to the Issaquah School Board at its June 20 meeting. Broken into two parts, behavior and weapons, the report shows that fewer than 2 percent of the district’s student body was suspended or expelled last year.
That rate is down a quarter of a percent from the 2009-2010 academic year. The annual report only looks at suspensions and expulsions. More minor infractions, including times that students are sent to the principal’s office or put in detention, are not included.
