West Seattle, Washington
15 Saturday
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
In a time when Seattle Public Schools enrollment isn’t exactly booming, West Seattle High School enrollment is.
Nearly 1,500 students fill the school now, principal Brian Vance told the Rotary Club of West Seattle today – up from 900 when he took over nine years ago. They’ve had to add portables.
The size of the student body isn’t the only number he brought to tell a success story. He had other numbers, like a 93 percent four-year graduation rate.
And he had some personal points of success, too – dad to two WSHS graduates now in college, president of the districtwide Principals Association of Seattle Schools.
Not everything was rosy. Despite the strong enrollment, they’ve had to make staff cuts for next year because of the district’s finances. Vance mentioned that in response to a question about his biggest current concerns; he also cited students’ mental health, and substance abuse.
He also was asked about cell-phone use in schools, subject of a recently announced district policy. He said WSHS has had a policy since the start of the school year and it’s “going fine.” Elsewhere on the technology front, they’re working with both students and teachers to ensure that AI is used as a support, not a “replacement.”
Vance’s appearance was relatively brief; he said he’d been summoned to a meeting with new district superintendent Ben Shuldiner, whose leadership so far – just hitting the 100-day milestone – led Vance to suggest “there’s going to be some big changes coming.” He did not elaborate.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Admiral Neighborhood Association president Joanie Jacobs announced tonight’s gathering as “the last meeting before summer craziness begins.” That’s a reference to the intense slate of summer events that ANA presents. Here are the meeting’s main points:
SEATTLE POLICE: Crime-prevention coordinator Matt Brown and Community Service Officer Jamie (both civilian employees of SPD) were at the meeting. Brown had the latest stats – first urging people to report incidents, since otherwise it won’t appear in the data at all – SW Precinct (West Seattle and South Park) area crimeis down 9 percent year to year, Admiral is down 21 percent. Confirmed gunfire calls are down 12 percent, 30 total, precinct-wide, and none of those were in Admiral; four of the incidents resulted in injury, no deaths. Brown was asked how SPD is preparing for the FIFA World Cup matches and related events; every precinct will be involved in deployment.
EX-CHURCH SITE REDEVELOPMENT: Two Admiral Church congregants gave an update on the church’s Homestead Community Land Trust partnership – the church is donating its site for an affordable-homeownership project that also will include a new home for the church. Current plan is for 21 units, 13 will be townhomes, 8 will be single=floor ADA-compliant flats in a building over the church’s new space. They just met with the architects today. For the last couple years, Homestead has been working to secure added public funding needed even though the church had donated the land. “They’re at a point in this process that our current expectation is that they’ll be able to start construction in September of this year.” Laura added, “The affordable-housing piece will allow folks to be able to buy and own the townhouses.” Mike elaborate, “For folks who make less than 80 percent of the area median income. … The people we depend on in this neighborhood can’t afford to live in this neighborhood,” and this project will address that. He also recapped that the units will have to “stay affordable.” Once construction starts, it’ll likely take about a year and a half. Laura noted that this also will allow Admiral Church to stay in the neighborhood – they voted to do this rather than selling the land for “a lot” to whomever wanted to do whatever. – and, they noted, the site is zoned for much-denser redevelopment than this will be.
HIAWATHA PLAY AREA: ANA’s main communicator Dan Jacobs said the Parks Department just hasn’t been able to send anyone to the ANA meetings but has given him some info on the play-area project. Construction is supposed to start “by late summer/early fall” this year; bids were opened two months ago. The long-pending play area project has kept ANA from bringing even one of the summer concerts back to Hiawatha, but maybe next year. He also noted that ANA would like to meet at newly remodeled hiawatha Community Center but it’s not staffed evenings so they’d have to pay – for staff, for the space, etc. They’re also looking for community suggestions on programming.
SUMMER EVENTS: Joanie Jacobs talked about what they have to do to cover the costs of the neighborhood cleanup (9 am June 6, starting location TBA, just show up) West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade, the Admiral Music in the Parks three-concert series (July 16-23-30), and the Admiral Block Party (August 22). Monetary donations – no matter how small – help them pay for the events, and they are staffed with volunteer power. Next Tuesday (May 19) at 7 pm prospective volunteers are invited to a gathering at the West Seattle Realty event space (2715 California SW; WSBs sponsor).She exhorted the ~20 people in the room to come and bring a friend/neighborhood. On July 2, a screening of the Earl Robinson documentary by local filmmaker BJ Bullert will raise money for the summer concert series, ANA’s Meagan Loftin announced. She also said Admiral history walking tours will be back this summer.
HELP ANA COVER THE COSTS … of all those events, by donating here.
NEW BUSINESS MEMBER: The owner of a new record label The Big Dark Records spoke briefly – they’re new ANA business members. If your business would like to join, find info on the ANA website!
BE A HOUSEHOLD MEMBER: ANA would love to have more of those too! Go here to find out how.
EMERGENCY HUB: Admiral still needs a volunteer to lead theirs – a place people would go for information in case o catastrophe.
NEXT MEETING – isn’t until September, so in the meantime, find your community group out at all the aforementioned events (details on connecttoadmiral.org).
When WSDOT announced Monday that it would close the northbound 1st Avenue South Bridge all weekend again, starting this Friday night, though one area bridge – the West Seattle low bridge – already had an all-weekend closure planned, we asked SDOT if the latter was still on. We had already asked what time the low-bridge closure would start, as the original announcement was just “May 16-17.” Here’s the statement we got this afternoon with answers to both questions:
The Spokane St Swing Bridge (also know as the West Seattle Low Bridge) will be closed to all vehicles starting at 7 a.m. Saturday, May 16 and reopen by the morning of Monday, May 18. People on bicycles and walking will still be able to use the bridge, although there may be more bridge openings than usual due to the maintenance work.
We have been working closely with WSDOT to coordinate around their planned construction on the First Ave S Bridge. The work on Spokane St Swing Bridge will continue as planned because it is not a detour route for the First Ave S Bridge and the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge has enough capacity to carry the increased traffic volumes of people affected by both closures.
SDOT says it’s closing the low bridge to drivers so it can “replace the tail lock cylinder, motor, and hydraulic pump.”
Now until 8:15 pm, you can take your chances on fun gift baskets as part of the Fauntleroy Fall Festival fundraiser at Endolyne Joe’s (9261 45th SW) – including a Mariners-themed Game Day basket:
And baskets for beer fans:
Just look for Ben, Reed, and their young assistant:
You can get in on the drawing until 8:15, and you can dine at the restaurant until 9, with part of the proceeds benefiting the festival, which is set for October 18 this year.
One of two speakers of note at today’s weekly Rotary Club of West Seattle meeting was Keith Hughes, who chairs the West Seattle Grand Parade for the Rotary Service Foundation, which presents it.
This year’s parade is a little more than two months away – Saturday, July 18. The parade is almost a century old, founded in 1934 – as the Grand Parade, not the Hi-Yu Parade, Hughes noted, though it carried that name colloquially for some years. He said it’s the longest-running and largest community parade in the Puget Sound area. It’s a Seafair-sanctioned event. And – it’s increasingly expensive to present. Even with an all-volunteer parade team, it still cost $11,000 last year, more than half of that going to barricades for street closures along the California Avenue SW parade route (from Admiral Way to SW Edmunds), which the city stopped providing more than a decade ago. Now the city charges permit fees that keep going up, he added, saying last year’s permit cost $2,600. So they accept sponsorships to help cover the costs, and Hughes said there’s room for more this year. Sponsorship levels go from $250 to $5,000, and you can contact parade organizers to sign up – WestSeattleParade@gmail.com – if you’re interested in being part of the parade (which only carries a fee for commercial and political entries), you can inquire at that same email address.
With the school year ending in a little more than a month, many families – but not all – have summer plans locked in. If you’re still looking for summer-camp options, the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) has an announcement that might interest you:
The YMCA of Greater Seattle is expanding summer camp options in West Seattle to help serve more families and provide additional opportunities for kids to experience camp close to home.
In past years, many West Seattle families have joined waitlists due to limited summer camp space. This year, the Y has expanded Discovery Camp to four West Seattle locations, and added capacity at Outdoor Day Camp, Trek Camp, and Peak Camp at Lincoln Park.
West Seattle Discovery Camp locations (Grades 1-5):
Arbor Heights Elementary (NEW)
3701 SW 104th St, SeattleConcord International (South Park)
723 S Concord St, SeattleFairmount Park Elementary (NEW)
3800 SW Findlay St, SeattleLouisa Boren STEM K-8
5950 Delridge Way SW, SeattleOutdoor Day Camp (Grades 1-4), Trek Camp (Grades 5-6), Peak Camp (Grades 7-9):
Lincoln Park
8011 Fauntleroy Way SW, SeattleAt YMCA summer camp, kids discover something new every day through enrichment activities, physical games, outdoor play, and weekly themes woven into the camp experience. Campers have opportunities to make new friends, build confidence, stay active, explore new interests, and enjoy a summer full of fun in a welcoming environment.
Families are encouraged to register early as summer approaches. To learn more about all Y camps in West Seattle or to register, visit the YMCA of Greater Seattle summer camp website.
Financial Assistance Available: We believe everyone should have the opportunity to participate — regardless of financial circumstances. That’s why we offer income-based financial assistance for memberships and programs as funding allows. Learn more about financial assistance here.
Continuing our sea theme this afternoon thanks to Keri Watson for sending the video! That’s a sea lion “sailing” – often mistaken for an orca – off Lowman Beach. We’ve featured and explained this over the years – here, for example.
(Lincoln Park beach at low-low tide, 2024 photo by Tom Trulin)
Plan your beach visits now – low-low tides are on the way. This Saturday (May 16) at 11:06 am, the tide is out to -3.1 feet; on Sunday, -3.8 feet at 11:50 am; next Monday, the lowest one, -4.1 feet at 12:36 pm; Tuesday (May 19), -3.8 feet at 1:25 pm, and Wednesday (May 20), -3.1 feet at 2:17 pm.
As this prime time for shore exploration approaches, the Seattle Aquarium has announced its beach-naturalist dates for this summer – including three in West Seattle, all at Lincoln Park beach:
May 18, 11 am-2 pm (with the aforementioned -4.1-foot low-low tide)
June 14, 9:30 am-12:30 pm (with a -3.9-foot low-low tide at 10:45 am)
July 13, 9:30 am-noon (with a -3.7-foot low-low tide at 10:30 am)
Some days on the chart have even lower tides – June 15 and 16, for example, both bottom out at -4.3 feet, which we’d call “mega-low.” Whenever and wherever you go exploring, tread lightly!
First orca report in a while! Kersti Muul says orcas are northbound in central Puget Sound right now, seen off south Blake Island. Let us know if you see them.
(Today’s sunrise, photographed by Stewart L.)
Here are event notes/reminders/listings for today/tonight, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
FAUNTLEROY FALL FESTIVAL DINE-OUT FUNDRAISER: Until 9 pm tonight, dine at Endolyne Joe’s (9261 45th SW) and part of the proceeds will help the Fauntleroy Fall Festival stay free! After 5 pm, you can also bid for a benefit gift basket – look for the festival team at the restaurant.
FREE PLAYSPACE AT CHURCH OF NAZARENE … open today, now through noon, drop in with your little one(s). (42nd SW and SW Juneau)
KALEIDOSCOPE PLAY & LEARN: 10 am-11:30 am drop-in program for ages 0-5 and their caregivers at The Bridge School Cooperative Elementary (10300 28th SW; WSB sponsor).
POSTCARDS4DEMOCRACY: New postcard-writers as well as returnees are welcome at this weekly advocacy gathering, 10:30 am-noon at C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor). Sign up here before you go, if this is your first time.
ROTARY CLUB OF WEST SEATTLE: Noon Tuesdays, lunch meetings at West Seattle Golf Course, today’s guest speaker: longtime West Seattle High School principal Brian Vance. (4470 35th SW)
CHESS CLUB: All levels welcome to play! 1:30-3 pm, at the Center for Active Living (4217 SW Oregon). Questions? Email conwell@conwelld.net.
OTHER EVENTS AT THE CENTER: Dozens every week! Go here for the full Center for Active Living calendar.
CITY COUNCIL: At City Hall, at 2 pm, the council holds its main weekly meeting. Today’s agenda explains how to comment and/or watch.
DROP-IN HOMEWORK HELP: Free assistance for students, 4-5:45 pm at High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond).
HIGH-SCHOOL SPORTS: No playoff games on the local schedule tonight.
DROP-IN WINE TASTING: 5-8 pm Tuesdays at Walter’s Wine Shop (4811 California SW) – $15 fee, $5 off with bottle purchases.
DEMONSTRATION FOR BLACK LIVES: Long-running weekly sign-waving demonstration on the corners at 16th/Holden. 5-6 pm. Signs available if you don’t have your own.
MODE MUSIC STUDIOS OPEN MIC AT TIM’S: 5 pm signup, 6 pm music at all-ages open mic hosted by Mode Music Studios at Tim’s (16th SW and SW 98th) in White Center.
TUESDAY NIGHT SUPPER CLUB: Alki Kayak Tours and Mountain to Sound Outfitters (WSB sponsor) have launched this Tuesday night event for stand-up paddleboarders – details here – 5:30 pm. (1660 Harbor SW)
INTERFAITH FREEDOM VIGIL: Weekly, 5:30-6:30 pm at Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza candlelight vigil open to all. (61st SW and Alki SW)
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY ORCHESTRAS: First of two concerts in their “Our Beautiful World” series, 6 pm at Chief Sealth IHS Auditorium (2600 SW Thistle), free (but donations always appreciated).
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: 6 pm board meeting, community members welcome, Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW).
TRACK RUN WITH WEST SEATTLE RUNNER: Meet up by 6:15 pm at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) for WSR’s free weekly track run.
OPEN CHOIR REHEARSALS: 6:30 pm Tuesdays at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (3940 41st SW), come sing with the Boeing Employees Choir, even if you aren’t a Boeing employee – email to RSVP.
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: 7 pm at the Admiral HUB (4320 SW Hill), last general gathering before summer-event season will include an update on the affordable-homeownership project planned for the HUB site. All welcome.
PAST, PRESENT, & ELSEWHERE: Album-listening sessions at Revelry Room (4547 California SW), every Tuesday night, 7-9 pm.
SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING: Weekly lessons continue, 7 pm at Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW), details in our calendar listing.
WOMEN’S MEDITATION CIRCLE: Weekly small-group meditation at Mama Be Well Healing Studio (4034-A California SW), 7 pm. Our calendar listing has info on registering before you go.
BINGO: Play free Tuesday night Belle of the Balls Bingo at The Skylark, 7 pm. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
TRIVIA X 4: Four places to play trivia tonight – The Beer Junction (4711 California SW), Sporcle Pub Quiz with David at 7 pm and 8 pm … 7 pm at Ounces (3803 Delridge Way SW), free, hosted by Beat the Geek Trivia; 7 pm at Zeeks Pizza West Seattle (6459 California SW), hosted by Geeks Who Drink; 7 pm at Admiral Pub, free, prizes. (2306 California SW).
If you are organizing an event, class, performance, gathering, etc., tell your West Seattle neighbors via our event calendar – just email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
PHOTOS BY OLIVER HAMLIN FOR WEST SEATTLE BLOG
Jubilation for the Wildcats, dejection for the Lions, after West Seattle HS took a must-win Metro League 3A Tournament game last night at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex, 3-2 over Lakeside. They won in a walkoff – Samuel Kraynek hit a single for the winning RBI:
That brought in Owen Fahy:
One of WSHS’s two other RBIs was hit by Sacha Ninburg:
Cole Williamson got the other RBI. Others with hits included Blue Cheha:
Starting pitcher was Brady Sternberg:
He was pulled in the fourth inning and Cameron Fitterer followed:
After giving up two walks, Fitterer was replaced on the mound by Ninburg for the final inning. WSHS’s next game is tomorrow (Wednesday, May 13), vs. Garfield, 7 pm at Eastside Catholic.
8:04 AM: SPD and SFD are arriving at Cottage Grove Commons (5444 Delridge Way SW) for a report that a man was stabbed in the hand when someone tried to rob him of his phone. First officers on scene told dispatch they have taken a suspect into custody. Due to the size of the usual “scenes of violence” response for incidents involving weapons, northbound traffic is likely to be impeded in that area.
8:08 AM: The victim’s wound is described as a “minor abrasion” so all but SFD units but one are being dismissed.
6:00 AM: Good morning! Welcome to Tuesday, May 12, 2026.
WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET
Sunny, high in the mid-70s. Sunrise was at 5:35 am; sunset will be at 8:36 pm.
(Recent sunset photo by Chris Frankovich)
CLOSURE ALERTS
–WSDOT now says the northbound 1st Avenue South Bridge will close all weekend again this weekend. Multiple lanes are closed nightly till then, as explained here.
-Also, as announced, SDOT plans to close the West Seattle low bridge to drivers this weekend. (We have an inquiry out about whether the WSDOT plan will change this one at all.)
TRANSIT TODAY
Metro buses – Regular schedules.
Washington State Ferries – Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route is back to the regular three boats. Check the alert page for any last-minute changes.
West Seattle Water Taxi – Now on “summer” schedule, with extra Friday/Saturday/Sunday runs including later-night schedules Fridays and Saturdays.
SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS
High Bridge – Here’s the main camera, followed by the Fauntleroy-end camera:
Low Bridge – Here’s the westward view. Also note, maritime-opening info is available via X (ex-Twitter):
1st Avenue South Bridge (25 mph speed limit):
Delridge cameras: In addition to the one below (Delridge/Genesee), cameras are also at Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Henderson, Delridge/Oregon, and video-only (so you have to go to the map), Delridge/Holden and Delridge/Thistle.
MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: All functioning traffic cams citywide are here (including links to live video for most); for a quick scan of West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras, see this WSB page.
See trouble on the bridges/streets/paths/water? Please text or call our hotline (when you can do it safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities if they’re not already on scene) – 206-293-6302. Thank you!
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