LAKEWOOD — “It reminds me of Everett High School,” Elda Mercado said, as she looked at the plans for the new Lakewood High School. “There’s lots of daylight.”
“And construction on the new high school will be done by the time your boy starts school there,” Stephen Black of McGranahan Architects told Mercado at the March 17 Lakewood School District open house.
Black explained that this summer would mark the start of construction on the high school’s parking lots and storm-water detention systems. By next spring, he predicted construction would begin on the main building.
“And this building will stay in place?” Mercado asked Black.
Black replied: “The new high school is being built just south of here, where the fields are right now.”
When Mercado asked if the current track and field facility will be replaced, Black told her it would be renovated in place. He said the new school should be ready by the 2017-18 school year.
Mike Curl, new principal at Lakewood High, looked even further into the future as he addressed eighth-graders.
“You’ll be the first class to have me as your principal for all four years of high school,” Curl said. “We want you to do the best that you can, and we can help you by exploring who you are and what you’re good at.”
Curl expects all of his students to pursue some form of education after high school, whether it’s a university, community college, vocational training or technical school.
To help students succeed, he pledged that next year’s ninth-graders would meet with upperclassmen two Wednesdays each month to receive academic tips and learn about the school’s history.
“This should also help reduce bullying and harassment of younger students,” Curl said. “And when they become sophomores, they’ll get to be mentors in turn.”
Curl also tasked the eighth-graders with taking part in at least two extracurricular activities in high school, whether academic, athletic, faith-based or any number of other after-school pursuits.
“The more involved you are in your school and community, the more likely you are to be successful,” Curl said. “Plus, that’s where you’ll make your memories.”
LHS counselor Calista Ham noted that in addition to four years of English and three years of math, next year’s freshmen will need three years each of science and social studies to graduate. They will also need one semester of health, three semesters of physical education, a year of career and technical education, and two years each of art and a foreign language.
Curl added that this ups the graduation credit requirement from 22.5 to 24, distributed through 48 classes.
“That means you can’t fail any of those classes,” Curl said.
In the nearer future, moms such as Ashley Wade and Ellen Gable were signing their children up for kindergarten for the first time.
“I’m worried about how they handle bullying and school safety, like any mom,” Wade said.
Gable didn’t have too many forms to fill out, even though she lives in Camano Island. She’s aiming to sign her child up for kindergarten in Lakewood because her daycare is in the area.
“That daycare is basically part of our family, in terms of how much they help us raise our children, so we don’t want any disruption in that continuity,” Gable said. “It helps that I’ve heard nothing but positive things about the Lakewood School District.”
