Summer break is in sight for thousands of West Seattle students (and their families, their educators, etc.). Here’s our list of who gets out when (sourced from schools’ online calendars):

FRIDAY, JUNE 5
Summit Atlas
West Seattle Montessori

TUESDAY, JUNE 9
Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor)
Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School

THURSDAY, JUNE 11
The Bridge School Cooperative Elementary (WSB sponsor)

FRIDAY, JUNE 12
Tilden School (WSB sponsor)
Westside School (WSB sponsor)
Holy Rosary Catholic School
Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School
Hope Lutheran School

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17
Seattle Public Schools

P.S. First one out will also be the first one back – the first day of the next school year for Summit Atlas will be August 12. (We’ll have the full back-to-school-date list before then.)

(WSB file photo. No outdoor cap tosses this year!)

Tomorrow (Monday, June 1) brings not only a new month but also the first graduation ceremony of the season for West Seattle’s three biggest high schools. And all are graduating at new venues this year. Summit Atlas, which after nine years remains West Seattle’s only charter school, will graduate 55 seniors in a ceremony at Highline Performing Arts Center in Burien at 6 pm Monday. West Seattle’s two major public high schools, Chief Sealth International HS and West Seattle HS, both have graduation ceremonies on Wednesday, June 17, at McCaw Hall (hosting graduations while Memorial Stadium is being rebuilt) – CSIHS at 5 pm, WSHS at 8 pm. The Seattle Public Schools webpage for graduation info also lists where and when ceremonies are planned for its alternative programs, some of which hold classes in West Seattle.

Highland Park Elementary principal Mary McDaniel says she doesn’t like surprises – but she admitted the one she got this afternoon is “great.” During a day-ending HPE assembly, the nonprofit Alliance for Education‘s president Roxanne Christian and a Seattle Public Schools delegation led by superintendent Ben Shuldiner appeared unannounced to present McDaniel with the Thomas B. Foster Award, given to two SPS principals each year. It came with a $25,000 grant for the principal and her school.

In a post-assembly interview with Edgar Riebe of SPS TV, the principal said her Building Leadership Team would decide how to spend the grant money, though she could easily imagine numerous possibilities, including filling gaps in staffing and services for her students. She’s been at HPE for five years and said she makes it a point to know each student’s name, and to be outside the school greeting them on arrival every morning.

Their love for her was evident too – the students had signs and chants for her before the assembly ended.

P.S. West Seattle recipients of the Foster Award in the past 15 years have included now-retired West Seattle Elementary principal Pam McCowan-Conyers in 2023, then-Alki Elementary principal Dr. Rena Deese in 2018, and then-Denny IMS principal Jeff Clark in 2011.

Before we get to the list of what’s up today/tonight, a weekend preview – fun for all ages tomorrow at Gatewood Elementary (4320 SW Myrtle) during the Gator Fair, 10:30 am-2:30 pm! Organizers asked us to share one more invitation:

Join us for the Fourth Annual Gatewood Gator Fair! Come and celebrate our community with carnival games (prizes!), face painting, performances, a Science Fair, Food Trucks, Vendors, and so much more!

The fair is FREE and we would love to see you there! email GatewoodGatorFair@gmail.com with any questions.

As noted on the poster, one of the highlights wil be a Seattle Fire engine/truck visiting at 11 am (provided an emergency doesn’t call the crew away). And as mentioned here on Thursday, local preparedness volunteers will have an Urban Survival Skills Fair on the festival grounds too.

Thanks for the tip. For the second time in less than three weeks, a West Seattle elementary school has suffered flooding from a broken pipe. First it was Lafayette – yesterday, it was Arbor Heights Elementary. Students were dismissed earlier than usual on Wednesday (which is always a short day) because the pipe break, in the boiler room, required water to be shut off entirely, the district media office tells WSB. They also confirm the problem’s been fixed, the flooded area’s been dried, and school resumed normally today. Here’s the letter principal Lauren Porto sent to families.

By Anne Higuera
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Short on funds and running out of time, cooperative preschool program advocates at South Seattle and other colleges are asking for help from everyone from politicians to school administrators to intervene so that the programs don’t close permanently at the end of the school year in early June. As we reported last month, changes in the statewide funding model for community colleges ruled out funding most, if not all parent education programs at community colleges, of which the coop preschools are an integral part.

“Everyone agrees that our programs are important and they should be saved/preserved. And no one is doing anything,” says Jen Giomi, South’s preschool faculty coordinator and a parent educator. In recent weeks, Giomi says more than 100 people joined a call with Governor Bob Ferguson’s office, letters have been sent to U.S. Senator Patty Murray, and a variety of meetings attended, with no commitment so far to keep the 80-year-old program open at 16 colleges statewide.

Organizers have also asked for a deferral from the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), which is the group that approved the funding model change. When asked this week if the board is actively considering that request, the SBCTC’s Communications Director Rachelle Alongi replied, “We are working closely with colleges to determine next steps,” though she also confirmed that parent education programs are not on the agenda for the board’s next meetings on June 3rd and 4th. “We are meeting with legislators to discuss the Parent Education Program and how we can support colleges.” She added, “Ultimately, the decision to offer or not offer this program is up to the college.”

While this is true, for colleges to offer it and use state funds to pay for it, the program must meet criteria around credentialing and workforce development that are part of the new funding model. That goes back to SBCTC, which reviews and makes a decision about which programs meet the criteria. Alongi says they have received requests from 5 schools so far. Of those, 3 have been denied and 2 are still under review. Six schools statewide already had certificate programs when the funding model change happened, but their future is not yet clear. “We’re continuing to iron this out,” said Alongi.

(WSB file photo)

Giomi says South Seattle’s Program Approval Request is one of the three that was denied. “It appears that will not be a way to save programs.” She says the reasons given for rejection focused around whether parent education would be required as a credential for jobs, other educational programs or with the state agency Department of Children, Youth, and Families. “We’ve all been told that that parent education certificates are not needed for any jobs. Almost all parent educators got their jobs through their programs. Additionally, 95% of what we explore with parents is that same content as a person studying to get an ECE [Early Childhood Education] degree. For some reason, if parents do the work, it’s not considered workforce, but anyone who studies it, is considered workforce.”

With South Seattle’s Cooperative Preschools parent education program application rejected, and a deferral unknown, finding a way to fund the program, even temporarily, is now even higher priority for organizers. A $2 million fundraising effort launched in April by parent educators to keep just the programs at South Seattle and North Seattle open next year has raised 40% of the needed funds so far. Independent fundraising could be a path forward for the preschools, since they run as individual non-profits. A key thing they will lack if they lose status as part of a college program is insurance, but that can be arranged. It’s that or the other option, as the final two weeks of the school year conclude. “There is no firm deadline, but many Co-ops are already putting plans in place to close or try to go independent,” says Giomi.

Story by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

The Alki Masonic Lodge held their 47th annual School Awards Night on Monday, and 16 juniors from Chief Sealth International High School and West Seattle High School were honored for their achievements.

Each year, the lodge’s Education Council works with school counselors from WSHS and CSIHS to collect nominations for outstanding junior-class members from each school, as part of the Freemasons’ mission “to recognize and thus encourage participation in public-school education,” as its parent organization “has long supported the public-school system as one of the basic necessities in maintaining the American ideal of democracy.” Selection criteria for the award winners includes a holistic review beyond GPA, emphasizing character, leadership, community service, dedication to athletics/arts, and personal integrity.

The 2026 award winners are, from Sealth:

• Katherine Ackers
• James DiPaolo
• Kazune Hansell
• Brandon Hu
• Brigham Stowell
• Maninte Teshome
• Takumi Momma
• Phillip Nguyen

And from West Seattle:

• Jamesia Henderson
• Nia King
• Ada Rutman
• Octavio Sanchez Seger
• Christiano Solis
• Stella Springwalter
• Sofia Bertelli
• Keira Collins

All 16 students selected for 2026 awards were actually in attendance on Monday, which lodge leaders noted was a rare occurrence due to schedules, and they commended students and their families for making the time. Here’s the whole group, pictured after the ceremony:

Photo by Jason Grotelueschen:

Front Row: Takumi Momma, Phillip Nguyen, James DiPaolo, Brandon Hu, Ada Rutman, Stella Springwalter, Maninte Teshome, Katherine Ackers

Back Row: Jamesia Henderson, Nia King, Christiano Solis, Sofia Bertelli, Keira Collins, Brigham Stowell, Octavio Sanchez Seger, Kazune Hansell

Students on Monday night were presented with certificates and monetary gifts, and faculty members in attendance from each school were given an updated “perpetual plaque” containing names of annual honorees. Eight students from each school were selected, with two students from each school receiving special recognition as “top students.” 

Martin Monk was emcee for the evening, and he noted that he was also recipient of one of the lodge’s student awards in 1979 which was the very first year of the 47-year-old program. He added that 2026 marks the group’s 120^th year in West Seattle – founded in 1906 on California Avenue in the Admiral District, and moved in 1952 to the current building on 40^th/Edmunds. The lodge’s leader, Worshipful Master Michael Riley, also provided remarks for attendees, thanking students and families for their dedication and hard work.

Pictured above (photo by WSB’s Jason Grotelueschen) from left to right are, from WSHS, assistant principal Tia Yarbrough and school counselor Christine Nutters, lodge leader Michael Riley and (at the podium) Martin Monk, and Chief Sealth school counselor Krista Rillo.

Why does the group honor juniors each year, in particular? Lodge leaders joked that “seniors already get lots of attention” and said that the organization has historically recognized that the junior year is particularly crucial for high schoolers, and thus is the ideal time to recognize high achievement and excellence.

Following the ceremony in the lodge’s upstairs room, attendees and their families enjoyed sandwiches and refreshments downstairs, courtesy of the lodge.

The school year has about a month to go. The Chief Sealth IHS PTSA is expecting to finish strong, starting with Wednesday night’s meeting – all invited!

High Point CC is at 6920 34th SW.

(WSB photo, May)

Lafayette Elementary‘s students and staff are dealing with the aftermath of a pipe break. Principal Cindy Chaput sent families a note, which was forwarded to us:

Update on Flooding Issue for Lafayette Elementary Families

Dear Lafayette families and staff,
Today, our school experienced a pipe burst resulting in flooding in the kitchen, cafeteria, and office hallway.

Repair and cleanup work are underway. While this work continues, the front entrance, kitchen, and cafeteria will be closed for the remainder of the week.

You may notice higher humidity levels and a mild odor as part of the drying process. Please be assured there are no concerns about air contaminants affecting student or staff safety. Drying equipment will be in place throughout the week and will be located away from classrooms.

To maintain a safe and secure environment when doors are open for ventilation, a facilities staff member will be present. You may also see increased presence of a security division lead on-site and the school gates will remain locked.

We have made the following arrangements to support students during this time:

• School Access: Students and families should enter the building through the back entrances.

• Lunch: Culinary Services will provide sack lunches for the remainder of the week. Students will eat outside on the playfield or under the covered area in the event of inclement weather.

• Childcare: Childcare programming will continue in the library.

We understand that this situation may cause concern or inconvenience, and we appreciate your flexibility and cooperation. The health and safety of our students and staff remains our top priority.
If you have any questions, please contact the school office.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

We’re checking with district HQ to see if there’s any additional information. We don’t know if it’s related to any of the boiler work done in a major project five years ago. Lafayette is West Seattle’s most populous elementary, with 532 students as of last month’s official count. It’s been considered, but passed over, for a rebuild in district levies.