News

Spring brings warmer weather but also seasonal allergies and colds. Knowing when to keep your child home — and when they’re okay to attend — helps protect learning time. Missing just two days a month adds up! Whether excused or unexcused, absences can impact progress. 

ParentVUE and ParentSquare are two important tools families can use to support their student’s success in school. Each one has a different purpose—and both are helpful

We are launching the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) on April 14 to improve school safety and emergency communication. The SRP includes five clear actions: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter. Watch the student training video to learn how we respond in each situation.

We want to provide an update to the ransomware attack we experienced last fall. After a thorough forensic investigation and a labor-intensive review, we have determined that certain files containing personal information were accessed by an unauthorized actor. The forensic investigation was conducted by a third-party expert and took several months to complete. 

At Gregory Heights Elementary, fifth-grader Malachi is thriving in an inclusive classroom where students of all abilities learn together. His journey from a separate special education setting to a general education classroom has sparked remarkable academic growth, deeper friendships and a powerful sense of belonging—for him and his entire school community.

Students are stepping out of the traditional classroom and into hands-on learning where math, science and language arts are taught through the lens of the construction industry. Core Plus Construction gives students real-world experience, industry certifications and a clear path to a rewarding career after graduation.

Highline’s two newest school board directors, Dr. Damarys Espinoza and Blaine Holien, were officially sworn in during a special oath of office ceremony on March 24. The event was attended by family, friends and community members. Each new director was joined by their family as they took the oath and committed to serving the students, staff and families of Highline.

In the fall, we will enter the final year of our strategic plan. We would like to hear from you. This year, we introduced four key priority areas to guide our work and investments in alignment with our strategic plan. As we develop next year’s budget and plan for the next version of our strategic plan, we want your input on how we can build on this work and allocate resources for maximum impact.

Help us welcome our two new school board directors. Dr. Damarys Espinoza represents District 4, and Blaine Holien represents District 5. The new directors will be sworn in on Monday, March 24.

The Highline School Board will interview four candidates for two open board seats on Saturday, March 15.  

Highline Public Schools’ Board of Directors stands firm in its commitment to protecting students, staff and families regardless of background, identity or immigration status. During a standing-room-only meeting on March 5, the board unanimously approved Resolution 02-25: Our Schools, Our Promise–A Stand for Every Student. 

Highline's financial outlook remains stable due to steady student enrollment and past budget adjustments. The School Board held a work session on Wednesday, March 5 about the budget development process. The next steps for the 2025-26 budget include working with leaders on school and department budgets, additional board updates in April and May, final budget development and a public hearing in June before submission to OSPI.  

The Highline School Board is moving forward with the appointment process of two vacant board seats. During the March 5 board meeting, the board narrowed the candidate pool to three finalists for District 4. The board also voted to re-open the application window for District 5 after two candidates withdrew from the process before the first round of public interviews. 

In Highline, we teach comprehensive sexual health education in alignment with state law and district policy.  FLASH (Family Life and Sexual Health) is our curriculum that meets state requirements for sexual health education, which is taught in grades 4-12. Families may opt out of any or all sexual health lessons. Attend our Family Information Night on March 31.

To make up for emergency closures—including a wind closure, a snow day and the cyber incident—the last day of school for the 2024-25 school year will be June 25 for K-12 students and June 24 for preschool students, unless additional closures occur.

UPDATE: Marvista Elementary and Pacific Middle School are closed today, Tuesday, February 25 due to an ongoing power outage at the school. All other Highline schools remain on a two-hour delay. Buses will arrive at their regular stops two hours later than usual. 

Ten candidates for the two open Highline School Board seats have advanced to the public interview on Wednesday, February 26. See a list of candidates. 

Online enrollment is now open as of February 18 for new students entering grades K-12 in September.

You’re invited to explore the results of January’s ThoughtExchange on our budget development process. More than 330 ideas were shared and rated nearly 13,000 times by 360 participants. A strong majority—69%—reported having at least some knowledge of the budget development process. Check out the top themes and all submitted thoughts in our interactive report. 

At Highline, we are committed to ensuring all students, families, and staff feel welcomed, valued, and safe. As part of this commitment, we have security procedures in place to protect everyone in our buildings. The security systems, installed in spring 2024, allow office staff to see and talk to visitors before unlocking the door. 

Literacy is one of our Big 4 focus areas, and we’re seeing growth. Elementary students are building strong reading and writing skills, while secondary students engage with complex texts and expand their vocabulary. Secondary iReady scores show a 6% increase in students reading at grade level. Teachers use data and professional development to refine instruction, ensuring every student is prepared for their future. 

At this time, we plan to open schools on time on Friday, February 7. We are closely watching conditions. We want to remind you that if weather conditions require a two-hour delay on an early release day, school will be canceled for the day.

You are invited to an open house at the Waskowitz Outdoor Education Center on Sunday, March 16 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.