High Quality Instruction and Learning for Every Child, Every Day in Every Classroom May 2016

Three Renton schools win state’s highest academic honorThree Renton School District schools have won the state’s highest honor for increased student progress and growth. The Washington Achievement Award is given to the top 10 percent of schools throughout the state that have made the most progress in reading and math proficiency among all students during three-year period. Achievement Awards recognize schools and educators making a difference in student outcomes, and making measurable progress in helping students prepare for

college, career, and life.

The schools were selected as winners using the Washington Accountability Index. Overall Excellence, High Progress, Reading Growth, Math Growth, 5-year graduation rate and English Language Acquisition.

This year’s Renton School District winners all won awards for high progress, making them among the highest performing schools, with respect to reading and math

improvement, during the three most recent years on state tests:

• Kennydale Elementary School

• Lakeridge Elementary School

• Talbot Hill Elementary School

The award-winning schools will be honored along with other state award winners at a ceremony on May 10 in Union Gap, Washington.

Teachers, support staff recognized as Outstanding EmployeesSix Renton School District teachers and support staff have been recognized as the 2016 Outstanding Employees. Renton School Board members recently presented the awards to recognize staff who demonstrate an extraordinary level of job performance, support of students, professionalism and dedication. Board members have presented the awards for more than 30 years to celebrate the great work being done at all schools and departments to provide students with a meaningful education.

This year’s recipients are consummate professionals, with a high level of skill, competence and character:

• Outstanding Elementary Teachers: Meg Bryson, Renton Park Elementary & Laretha Todd, Lakeridge Elementary School

• Outstanding Secondary Teacher: Joe Day, Mathematics Teacher, Nelsen Middle School

• Outstanding School Support Persons: Cathy Dean, Instructional Facilitator, Cascade Elementary & Susan Mahler, Office Manager, Hazen High School

• Outstanding District Support Person: Michele Hintz, Data Analyst, Student Information/Assessment Department

Meg Bryson Laretha Todd Joe Day Cathy Dean Susan Mahler Michele Hintz

KennydaleElementary

School

LakeridgeElementary

School

Talbot HillElementary

School

Lindbergh High students help prepare athlete for 2016 OlympicsLindbergh High School students in Creed Nelson’s Construction, Manufacturing, and Aerospace class recently completed work to help a world-class athlete be better prepared to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The students built a stabilizing platform for Steve Ferrira, an award-winning athlete in both the shot put and hammer throw, who is training and competing in national events to be ready for the Olympics. Ferrira has cerebral palsy and uses a platform as a base from which to compete in his events. Ferrira came to the Lindbergh classroom to talk with students about how the platform works to stabilize his body while also providing flexibility to compete at the highest level. The Lindbergh students spent weeks designing and building a prototyped solution. Because the platform is made of aluminum, they solicited help from aluminum welding experts at the American Welding Society and Machinist Inc., a Seattle-based engineering and welding fabrication shop.

The Lindbergh High students presented the new platform to Ferrira who was thrilled with the results. Ferrira will take the platform to Arizona for a regional event; then to North Carolina for the North American Championships, where he will work to qualify to go to Rio in July.

Campbell Hill Elementary School third-grade girls are getting help envisioning themselves as young adults and learning to be more empowered through the newly established Helping Youth Posses Empowerment (H.Y.P.E.) club. The program, led by Campbell Hill staff member Alycia Mitchell, helps girls look forward into the future and imagine their jobs, peer relationships, and personal traits that they desire. The program also helps girls open up and engage in conversations about role models, what and who they are, and what characteristics and traits make someone a positive role model.

“This program will help girls be confidently aware of their greatness and the endless possibilities and options in life” said Mitchell.

Campbell Hill Elementary girls learn about role models and life

Five talented Hazen High School student musicians have earned spots on the prestigious Washington All-State High School Marching Band, sponsored by the University of Washington. The Hazen students (standing in photo l-r: Jake Paletta, Cameron Sokoloski, Devin Dolling, Trevor Skinner, and Kien Nguyen), who learned their craft under Hazen’s

band and orchestra teacher Chris Coy, will join other students from around the state this summer in Hawaii to play and march together at historic Pearl Harbor and the USS Missouri and the Arizona Memorial. The students will also celebrate the July 4th with a performance in the 2016 Kailua Independence Day Parade.

Hazen student-musicians earn trip to Hawaii

Friends of Renton Schools foundation fundraising breakfast a big success

Business owners and managers, along with community members and others from across Puget Sound met recently to give their support for local education at the seventh annual Friends of Renton Schools foundation fundraising breakfast. The

nearly 325 people in attendance were presented information and demonstrations on what the Renton School District has been up to with its Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) as well as music programs, after-school programs, and many more,

all funded by donations to the Friends of Renton Schools foundation.

The event, which is the foundation’s biggest fundraiser, garnered more than $164,000 in donations at the breakfast and through on-line donations. That

money, coupled with the recent donation of nearly $66,000 by Walker’s Renton Subaru through the national Subaru ‘Share the Love’ campaign, means the total raised for programs that benefit students at every level in the district totals nearly $231,000.

Elementary Chess Club students get their own travelling chess setsRenton Park Elementary School students in the Chess Club got a big surprise recently when they were presented with their own personal travel chess set courtesy of the Friends of Renton Schools foundation. The school’s librarian and Chess Club advisor Lise Lindfors, submitted a grant to the foundation for the student-sized chess sets and recently received the gift. The set includes a vinyl roll-up chess board and small chess pieces along with a convenient over-the-shoulder carrying case.

Students are already using the chess sets to sharpen their chess-playing skills at home, taking it on sleep-overs at friends’ homes, and teaching family members and siblings how to play the game.

Renton School District | 300 SW 7th Street, Renton WA 98057 | 425.204.2345 | www.rentonschools.us www.facebook.com/renton.schools | twitter.com/Renton_Schools | www.youtube.com/user/RentonSchoolDistrict

Looking for a great job?Renton School District is hiring: Apply online now at

https://jobs.rentonschools.us

Teaching and non-teaching, full-time positions or part-time substitute positions, with hours that are set or flexible and

many do not require a teaching degree.Pay can range up to $17.36 per/hour with great benefits.

Current openings include: Bus Driver, Custodian,Food Service/Substitute Cook, Office Assistant, and more.

Renton Police and Fire help high school seniors understand dangers of distracted drivingRenton Fire and Renton Police recently staged a major car accident dramatization at Hazen High School intended to show high school students what could happen if they drink and drive or drive while distracted, like texting or talking on a cell phone. The Driving Under the Influence (DUI) accident simulation was staged strategically just before prom to send a strong message to students that driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or texting while driving, can lead to a tragic ending.

The simulation started with two vehicles jammed nose-to-nose, portraying a head-on collision, complete with artificial smoke billowing out from the wreckage. Hazen students portrayed crash victims with “real-life” injuries, fatalities, gash wounds and broken bones. Some students were trapped in the cars, screaming for aid and comfort, others lay motionless on the

ground, another had been thrown through the windshield from the impact.

Sirens sounded and patrol cars arrived. Soon after, fire trucks and ambulances from Renton and adjoining jurisdictions arrived. Accident victims were pulled from the wreckage; some were placed on stretchers and loaded into aid vehicles while paramedics worked to triage wounds and monitor vital signs, all while lights

flashed and emergency workers called for assistance on radios. Renton Police even arrested and cuffed the teenaged driver of the car that initiated the accident who had been drinking.

The accident dramatization provided yet another strong visual representation of the pain and loss that results from accidents caused by drunk driving and distracted driving.

District joins with King County Library System to provide all students with

access to online materialsRenton Schools is teaming up with the King County Library System to provide every district student with increased student access to all King County Library System’s online resources. Working with the district, the King County Library is creating special accounts for all students which will allow them to log in to the King County Library System from school, home or any computer or device. The special student accounts will allow students to use the county’s vast collection of databases, downloadable materials, and online homework help services without needing a physical card. The new accounts will be active in mid-May.